Burghfield Training Day Report.

17 April 2010

 

Friday 16th April started with a fine wind and mellowed as the day progressed and offered temendous benefit to all those who participated.

Training was provided both on and off the water by Ian Martin, a born and bred Burghfield sailor, a former olmypic contender and now a full time RYA coach. One of his unexpected strengths was the fact that he had never sailed a Blaze, so he had no preconceptions as to how the boat should be tuned or sailed thus was able to address both purely by what he observed.

With only 7 boats, Ian was able to coach everybody individually as well as the group as a whole. There was extensive video coverage that was dissected and discussed before returning to the water for the afternoon session.

From the rescue drivers perspective, all seven crews improved sigificantly over the course of the day and there appeared to be a greater uniformity of style as the courses and exercises were completed

Any key tips? well the main one is to contact the RYA and get a professional coach along to your club. One a general note, the key tips were - work the boat - make full use of the kicker and cunningham when it blows, but let them off in the lulls - use more windward heel on entry to the gybe to minimise rudder movement and let the boat do the work for you - watch the top leech tell-tale and pay attention to the draught at the bottom of the sail, too much belly too far back interrupts the airflow and compromises performance.

The CA will run another training event next year, so be there. Thanks to Roger Williams for driving the rescue boat and for this report.