Sunday saw the first of our 2019 Sailing on Sunday sessions which are aimed to provide a variety of sailing experiences to both current and prospective members.

The weather was looking on the top side of ’frisky’ and it was quickly decided that the Topper Sports would remain in the dinghy park and the Squibs and 707’s on their mooring.   After all the aim is to encourage people to the sport of sailing rather than to provide a theme park ride.   We do want to see people return to the club both once they have been on the water and afterwards too !

Robert Coyle came to the rescue with the suggestion to have a brisk sail on his Dehler 37 Clara which, with a safe cockpit and self tacking jib, accommodated everybody.  This proved to be a good decision as with a gusty 28 knots it made for a challenging first introduction to helming.    Lucy Franklin was the first to take the helm downwind towards the Roach closely followed by Miguel Tierno and Elena De Diego all of whom enjoyed the experience and quickly got into the groove.   On our beat back to the club, Brian Waterhouse took the helm showing extreme concentration to keep Clara on the wind against the tide. Wendy Waterhouse enjoyed the sail from the comfort of the cockpit, but decided that her introduction to helming would be next time when conditions were less challenging.

Looking forward to more favourable weather when the next session takes place in 2 weeks time.