Newsletter – Nov 2010

Hello Sailors!

Graduates of our first adult learn to sail course!


This newsletter is an excellent opportunity to say thank you to
parents and helpers, both new and old! Your time and energy are making
the club days fantastic fun. Many hands make light work and by helping
to set up, driving rescue boats, and packing up and putting everything
away at the end, we are all having a great time.

JUNIOR OPTI RACING
Well done to all for getting your boats afloat and participating in
the upwind sailing drills. Everyone did really well at this and we'll
continue to practice fast upwind sailing some more next week. The race
didn't go quite so well, but we'll make you are all better briefed
next week. Just take time to ask yourself the question about why you
would start a race if you don't know where you were going? Hint ... If
you don't know where you are going ask the coach, that's what they are
there for. We had several skippers and skipperesses stuck in irons as
it got windier and will reinforce how to recover from getting stuck
"in irons" next weekend.

Here's a video demonstration : http://www.5min.com/Video/How-To-Do-Upwind-Sailing-140455739

JUNIOR STARLING RACING
Great to see Max and Anton on the water and everyone self righting
their boats after capsizing. A really good effort and the capsizing
will reduce as you spend more time in your boat. Our practice race
reinforced the need for you to be on the line at the start and with
this comes controlling your boat in close proximity to others.
Remember that as you are sailing faster boats the chance of a
collision comes up much more quickly than when you were Opti sailing.
So you need to keep an eye out for others particularly at the start
and keep looking under your boom to check for other boats.  Also,
Starlings are really sensitive to where you sit, remember that
downwind in a breeze they will want to put their noses underwater so
you have to move backwards and be quite physical with the boat to keep
it absolutely flat (using your weight and playing the mainsheet) to
save the boom hitting the water and tripping you up.

KIDS LEARN TO SAIL
Sunshine and a good breeze along with warm water and great turn out
saw everyone on the water for the first time helming their own Optis.
Brilliant! Well done to everyone who sailed a boat for the first time
at French Bay. There's a lot to learn about in sailing : where the
wind's coming from, how to rig your boat, how to tack, where to put
your feet, which hand to put on the tiller and which on the main
sheet. All these things will become second nature in a few weeks time
so get ready for an early start next weekend at 8am for some more
action on the water. The kids did fantastically well with even the
nervous ones coming off the water with smiles on their faces with a
huge sense of achievement having climbed back in the Opti's for a
second, third and in some cases a fourth turn.

ADULT LEARN TO SAIL
Saturday was the second and final installment of our first Adult Learn
to Sail intake, and what great fun it was. The Manukau South Wester
was present in full force, so we put two Optimist dinghies out, as
well as the Cadets and the Topper Topaz. The nine sailors who took
part are now proficient at sailing in a straight line and tacking,
(and some have had capsize experience!) and we are encouraging them to
come down to the club over the coming months to make use of the club
boats, and to hopefully purchase their own boat soon. There will be a
second intake in January/February, dates to be confirmed - please
email zoe@wildemedia.co.nz if you are interested. Great to see the
Adult learn to sail graduates using the Cadets on Sunday too.

Thanks for Fergus for running the show, to Ramahia for keeping the
hungry mouths fed and to Phil, Brendan and the rest of the rescue boat
crews who were kept pretty busy out there. The commitment shown to the
LTS course and the Opti and Starlings by all parents was really
appreciated by coaches Peter, Paddy and Matt, making their work so
much easier.

LAST SAILING DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Sunday 5th December - an early start : Learn to Sail and Junior Racing
sailors please arrive at 8am, with a 10am race start for seniors
Sunday 12th December - 12pm arrival for Learn to Sail and Junior
Racing, 2pm race start for seniors
Sunday 19 December - A fun family day with all the right ingredients -
water, boats, food and great company - mark your diary and stay tuned
for more details!

Remember that club members can come down to the club on race days and
make use of spare club boats. Please report in to the Officer of the
Day when you arrive (recommend 1-2 hours prior to race start).

WEEKLY SAILING TIP
Is your boat going slow, or not feeling right? Try letting your sail
out, just until it flaps. Then bring it back in a bit and see how it
feels. If you have woollies on your sail, they should be streaming
backwards and not twirling round and round. Adjust your sail trim
until the boat feels good and is moving well through the water. Don't
be afraid to try new things, and keep adjusting your sails as the wind
speed and direction is never constant.

Until next week!

The team at French Bay Yacht Club