Feva Open Training Weekend at Whitefriars SC

by Debbie Darling on 20 Jun 2012 A fleet of ten Fevas and their crews, from Bristol, London and the Cotswolds, braved strong winds to take to the water on the opening day of the Feva Open Training Weekend (16th /17th June) hosted by the Junior Section at Whitefriars Sailing Club, based in the Cotswold Water Park, an area of over 140 lakes near Cirencester.

Despite the challenging conditions and with a maximum gust recorded at 40 mph, a series of on-water exercises tested the crews, whilst the numerous capsizes tested the attendant Whitefriars safety crews. Additional on-shore sessions looked at sailing technique and sail and boat settings and provided an opportunity to dry out.

After the previous days exercise in survival, the young sailors returned undaunted for a second day of teaching from top coach Ollie Spensley-Corfield. With more favourable weather, a lot of time was spent on the water (rather than in it!) allowing the crews to focus on technique, whilst getting lots of practice with race starts, tacking, gybing and spinnaker hoists/drops, whilst racing to and from windward marks, trying to find the clear air and putting into practice the coaching points from the on-shore sessions. If the latter were briefly forgotten, the chasing coach boat was sure to provide a timely reminder. All agreed that it had been great fun as well as instructive, and went home quite exhausted but Whitefriars SC website