HISC Masters Training Report
by Zoe McCaig
We all arrived at Hayling island first thing on Saturday morning. My first views of the sea state made me a little nervous. Gusts over 30 mph were predicted and this sailing session was not going to be an easy one.
8 master sailors had the privilege of having James Royston and Jake Bowhay put them through their paces at the beautiful Hayling Island Sailing Club.
We started by having a briefing. Very early on the chat was about keeping in control and de-powering the boat in the gusty conditions. We had a quick demonstration from Jake and then we started to get ready to go out on the water. Once out on the water we started to do some upwind/downwind exercises and a few of us ended up taking a swim.
It became apparent very early on that the skill of the day was going to be getting control of the boat and holding on for dear life. After about 45 mins couple of us retired which left just the six of us. We proceeded to practice reaching and gybing, which weirdly I love. We then did some race practice.
The starts where difficult with the Tide and the gusty conditions but on the whole everyone did well. The upwind legs where cruel, especially if you are 5 ft 4 and not able to get your kicker on hard enough but the downwind legs where great fun in the gusts.
After what felt like a long time, over 3 hours, we called it quits. Most of us had given everything we had out on the water and it was time for a well earned drink and some dinner.
The debrief over dinner allowed us all to consider the areas we worked on and what we need to work on in the future. James and Jake also filmed aspects of the session so that we could review at our leisure. All in all, a fabulous training session.
As someone who is new to the Masters series, it was great to train with other Masters and I feel that I learnt a great deal throughout the day.
I will forever have James' voice in my head shouting "put your kicker on MORE". Something that I have already put into practice last weekend when racing at my club.
On behalf of the others who attended the session, I would like to thank Alison for arranging the session and, James and Jake for their excellent training.