When I first started sailing at Pevensey Bay Sailing Club, one of the club members, a gentleman in his 70s, called Roger, asked if I wanted to crew for him on Sunday races. I crewed for him for over a year, in his Laser 2000. We raced every Sunday and with Roger’s experience, I was able to experience sailing in every weather, wind and sea condition. This taught me almost everything I know about dinghy sailing. Before crewing with Roger I had only sailed a handful of times, so Roger’s many years of experience and mentoring, enabled me to learn to sail very quickly. I learnt lots about tactics, tides, wind and trimming the sails.
Roger encouraged me to sail a Cadet, a little double handed dinghy, with a fellow young club member (Nancy Allerton). I first helmed a Cadet at Frensham pond where a few training weekends were taking place, this was the first time I had helmed a double handed boat so I was very nervous. This experience enhance the sailing skills that I had learn with Roger. Nancy and I went on to win most improved and we also won the Bronze fleet race at the end of the training weeks.
I think there is a lot to learn from sailing a Cadet. Rigging and fine tuning the controls and learning to work and communicate as a team with the crew, so since gaining my RYA Dinghy instructor qualification, I have started coaching some of the younger member of PBSC to sail Cadets. We have had to move from PBSC to Piddinghoe Pond NSSC, due to the difficulty of sailing on the sea throughout winter. I hope that these sailors will partake in the Cadet world qualifier in May, which is being held at PBSC, but more importantly hope that their sailing skills and love for the sport will grow along the way. This has been a great experience for me as I have improved my coaching skills and it has also helped me gain confidence. I already help with coaching at PBSC but this is my first time running coaching sessions myself. This has improved my organisation and time management, as for these sessions, I have to plan lots of different exercises so that I can be responsive to the changing wind conditions. The forecast isn’t always correct! I take videos of the sailors, so that we can learn from each other and sailors can reflect on their strengths and areas for development. In these COVID times, I send the sailors the videos, with coaching notes attached. At these training sessions, Roger is always present with a helping hand if needed.
Leave a Reply