The Youth Improver’s kicked off to a great start last Saturday in the stormy weather. It commenced with a briefing for the Youths, and their parents, in the clubhouse, which was soon followed by the first youth race of the season.
Iona Reid had an astonishing start as she stormed past the other juniors on a port flyer, although the time that she had gained on everyone else was slowly but surely eaten up by Martin Atkinson as he sped up behind her. David Bates and Rhys Lewis played cat and mouse throughout the race, but at the end, David sped up slightly and managed to beat Rhys by 3 seconds! Lisa Atkinson attempted to start the race but found the wind was too much for her little boat. Thomas Ireland also tried to start the race, but he found that it was too windy and cold for him, especially as he had fallen into the water while setting up his boat, prior to the race. However, he assisted Keith with the timekeeping instead of sailing.
The results of this first race were: 1st Jill Reid, 2nd Martin Atkinson, 3rd Iona Reid, 4th David Bates and 5th Rhys Lewis. It was a good, but challenging, race that was sailed well by everyone who competed in it or even attempted in it. After the race ended, the Youths followed Keith inside to work on some theory on the Beaufort scale and how to depower their sails in winds like it was that day.
At the end of the session, Rhys Lewis, Martin Atkinson and Thomas Ireland braved the gusts and sailed around near the clubhouse, while the other juniors started to pack their boats away.
Youth Integration into the Spring Race Series last Sunday kicked off with Jill Reid coming 1st in the Silver fleet and Iona Reid coming 4th in the Bronze fleet despite over 30 capsizes in the day.
Hopefully we will see more juniors out for the next Youth Improver’s session next Saturday, on the 22nd April!