SWYSA Youth Winter Training at Paignton Sailing Club
by Peter Solly 10 Oct 2022 05:14 PDT
8 October 2022
A beautiful sunny day welcomed sailors from several clubs to Paignton for the first SWYSA Winter Training session of the season.
Building on the success of Starcross Yacht Club's winter training in 2021-22, this season SWYSA has arranged a program which travels to different venues, and runs the training in three separate fleets.
This week at Paignton there were eight boats in the Topper fleet, six ILCAs, and seven Teras. Lead by RYA coaches Stuart Jones and Izzy Cramp, and RS Tera Class Association Coach Caitlin Morley, the day started with very light winds.
After briefings ashore for each fleet, sailors launched to glassy water and blue skies. The wind was very light and so during the morning drills were interspersed with some drifting and getting to know each other.
After a lunch ashore cooked by Paignton Sailing Club volunteers, the wind filled in for a fantastic afternoon of champagne sailing: sun, blue sky and nice wind. Each of the fleets had a series of short races, with the Toppers and ILCAs combining to create a more crowded start line experience.
The first session was a great success, and the next of the planned SWYAS Winter Training sessions will be at Starcross Yacht Club on 19th November.
Thank you to Paignton Sailing Club for hosting, to the coaches, and to the parent volunteers for help crewing the coach boats.