Training News by Tim Hulse
With an excellent winter training coming to a close, we look forward to continuing the training into the new season in all areas of the country.
South Coast Winter Training
All three rigs have been training hard out of WPNSA all winter with the U21 full rig using the great Andrew Simpson Sailing Centre as their base. All training's are calendared to complement the RYA programme, dovetailing between weekends allowing sailors of all abilities to access the fantastic training environment that Portland offers. The large volume of numbers has been accommodated excellently will all sailors making great progress.
Midlands Training
This winter the UKLA has been looking to expand its training venues with Draycote and Grafham proving to be excellent centres. With the midlands/east laser training in its infancy, 28 boats at the last weekend was an excellent way to finish the winter! Lake training offers a completely different skill set to focus on, if it gets shifty during the spring qualifiers... watch out for a midlands sailor.
Northern Training
Excellent training has been running by RYA head coach Alan Williams for the UKLA. Having a man of Alan's 'experience' is a huge benefit to all involved, from coaching the coaches to developing better sailors, it has been a winter of everything, with some excellent conditions and fantastic club support from Leigh and Lowton sailing club the training has got off to a strong start and we look forward to developing this further. Over in the North East, David Schilling and Dominic Green have had some excellent training running by Head Coach Richard Benson. Saturday coaching and Sunday club racing formula worked with stunning effect and the feedback has been impressive.
Coaching in the regions
As the UKLA coaching philosophy moves forwards, please keep your eyes on the events page on the website. Structured coaching will be taking place in all regions, for all ages, all abilities and all rigs. 2020 is the year to learn how to 'tame this beast'! Staunton Harold, Grafham, Queen Mary SC and Leigh and Lowton SC are all holding early season training to kick the season off in the right way. Come and get some tips from some expert coaches and sail with like-minded people, you might just unlock the skill you have been needing for years!
Super Grand Prix
Finally, the Super Grand Prix circuit in 2019 was a huge success; in 2020 we have grown it again. More venues, more dates! All SGP's will be Saturday expert coaching, with Sunday event support. In a slight change from the previous year, an expert coach will stay for the Sunday to help embed the skills from the Saturday and offer some video briefing and debriefing over lunch! It should be another great way the UKLA are supporting your development!
2020 is building to be a busy year on the training calendar. Keep your eyes on the news page and events calendar however, should your club want that bit extra, the UKLA can offer coach support for any club, any dates, any standard. With a vast bank of expert laser coaches, we can accommodate all requests. Plenty of clubs have already kicked off their season with local training, why don’t you give it ago, contact training@laser.org.uk.
A massive thank you to Sailing Chandlery for sponsoring all UKLA training and helping us keep the boats on the water!