SAILING NEWS
News 11
nd was
ts own
the paces at Grafham Water by head coach Jon Emmett
go for a start which could go at any time. The downwind allowing the coaches to look at the being residential made for a relaxing finish, standing up (to practise boat balance). After
final exercise was a gut buster with a short beat hiking or sitting style, rig set up and steering with no one having the need to rush off another great lunch the weekend was finished
and a turning mark in the middle (sailors had to and sheeting. straightaway, thus allowing questions to follow off with a “Qualifier” style race of about an
sail 360 degrees around the mark). After the sailors had derigged and changed freely. hour which was an excellent way to put the
This was a great test of both boat handling there was a quick debrief before a superb din- Sunday morning, and having seen the video sailors’ new found racing skills into practice.
and rules awareness. The whole weekend was ner. of the previous day, the topic was boat balance With the sailors packed and ready to go home
fully catered so sailors could enjoy a hot lunch The video of all the day’s activities was then which saw sailors practising sailing with their tea and cake was served with a final video
before the next briefing. shown on a projector in the Grafham lounge, bottoms on the cockpit floor (so they could not debriefing ending an extremely successful
In the afternoon the focus was on boat speed allowing the sailors to see “through the coach- use their weight to keep the boat flat), sitting weekend. Regional training will start again in
with sailors lining up for follow-my-leader and es’ eyes”, plus there was some footage of the keelboat style (legs out so they could keep their September. Check the Laser website
then sailing the width of Grafham both up and professionals sailing in Hyeres. The weekend weight out but not move it easily) and lastly www.laser.org.uk for more details.
rule waters
better said: “This was my second Eric determine the 12 sailors who will make up
ame Championships but the first medals the 2008 Laser 4.7 NJS.
e won so to go home with two golds is a Last year’s Eric Twiname Topper champi-
y good weekend!” Techno 4.5 winner on Andrew Dawson (Winsford Flash) was
ma Labourne added: “I’ve never been to left to rue a six-point penalty following the
ent this big before and never expected to result of an arbitration hearing to hand David
wo gold medals. I really enjoyed the rac- Grant (Restronguet), who was named as a
nd it feels really exciting to be part of the new 2008 Junior Musto Academy recruit,
ing team.” Meanwhile the North Zone’s first place.
er class champion Samantha Towers RYA Junior Racing Manager, Duncan
“The weekend’s been really good fun Truswell, said: “After what was a really
a great chance to meet up with all our tricky day one everyone really made the most
ds from the Zone as well as meet a lot of of the breeze and we were delighted to get
people. I’m really happy.” some high-quality racing in. The sailors
king place alongside the battle of the deserve a lot of credit for their constant
s was the first part of the selection enthusiasm and energy in what was a pretty
ess for the Laser 4.7 National Junior frustrating situation on Saturday. Despite the
d with results from Rutland being used lack of sailing, everyone still seemed to enjoy
njunction with those from a second indi- themselves and then put on a fantastic show
event at Chew Valley in a fortnight to on the water today.”
ON THE CREST OF A WAVE: The winning North Zone team Picture: Paul Wyeth
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