RYA Female Scorpion Project 2025 - Camp 1 at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy
by Nick Lightbody 26 Jun 2025 10:40 PDT
June 2025
RYA Female Scorpion Project 2025 - Camp 1 at Weymouth © RYA-FSP
After the trials in April the FSP kicked off with the five day Camp 1 at WPNSA at Portland in Dorset.
A small group of sailor / coaches and sailors prepared, tuned and raced four National Scorpion 14ft dinghies backed up by RYA coaching RIBs in Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay.
For days 2 and 3 the project welcomed Stevie & Phil Morrison as our visiting coaches. They applied a strong focus on subtlety in jib trimming, highlighting how tiny changes in sheet tension can have a profound effect on jib leech shape and speed.
For several hours in the Bay on day 3 in a leftover swell with 7-10 knots of breeze the Morrisons helped our sailors finesse their skill in this demanding environment.
The key was to "ditch the kicker" (vang) and control the main twist and sheeting angle with only the mainsheet so that it can be dynamically adjusted over every wave.
In debriefing Phil explained the changes in apparent wind that occur as the rig moves fore and aft over every wave.
Stevie left the project with a library of videos with commentary to explore and absorb over the rest of the project.
Camp 2 starts on July 1st at WPNSA and runs for 5 days.