Draycote Novice & Junior Racing Update

I hope you are having a good winter and at least getting on the water a little bit?
The nights are starting to stay a little lighter and it’s getting a little bit warmer, so it won’t be long before our Youth and Junior groups re-start and I’m really looking forward to seeing you all back on the water with us!

We will be announcing very soon the dates and format for our 2015 Youth and Junior Calendar, but in the meantime here is some exciting club news:

SUNDAY NOVICE & JUNIOR RACING IS BACK!
We start again on Sunday 8th March and, thereafter the first Sunday of each month.

Sunday 8th March is a special day, because we are welcoming our sponsor from Sport England (who have helped pay for the boat hire & fuel to allow you to participate for free) to see what you have all been doing, so it would be great to have a good turnout on that day to express your gratitude for their support. Even though it is still quite cold, there is kit available and you should be able to do a morning race at least! As usual, there will be a briefing outside (or inside!) the Club at 10am, so have your boat ready and be changed by then! As usual, book club boats through Dave Rowe – once again, the hire fee is being waived for Novice & Junior Racing!

The coaching team will be Elizabeth & Tim Fillmore, supported by Jeremy Atkins.

SPECIAL EVENING SEMINAR
Then, the following week, we are running a special evening seminar for Novices & Juniors – on Wednesday 11th March, in the clubhouse at 7.30pm. The bar will be open (for Novices rather than Juniors)!

The idea of this seminar is to give us a bit more time to talk through things than we have on a Sunday morning when we are rushing to get on the water. But more importantly, it will allow time for discussion and for you to ask questions in a relaxed, informal setting. There will be 3 topics:
– Sailing around the race course (thinking about each leg and what you should be doing / thinking) – led by Tim Fillmore
– Starting: some tips and techniques from an expert – Elizabeth Fillmore
– Rules: What are the key things you need to know – with Jeremy Atkins

We intend to finish by 9pm at the very latest to allow Juniors to get home in reasonable time!

AN INTRODUCTION TO WEDNESDAY EVENING RACING
And finally, Wednesday evening racing in the summer is one of the most popular things the Club does and we want to provide an introduction for you to this.

The series starts on Wednesday 1st April, but for the first two weeks the start is at 6.30pm because of the light. Two week’s later, the starts move back to 7pm, so, on that day – Wednesday 15th April – Elizabeth Fillmore will be providing a briefing for Novices & Juniors from 6pm. Just arrive as soon as you can from work / school. There won’t be a separate start from you (there isn’t time in the evening), but Elizabeth will take you through everything so that you know what’s going on, and then you can sail with the rest of your fleet.

We hope you are looking forward to getting back on the water and hope that you really enjoy what we have planned for 2015!

If you have any questions, please reply to this e-mail, or talk to Dave Rowe at the Club.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Sunday 8th and Wednesday 11th March!

Jeremy Atkins, Elizabeth & Tim Fillmore
Draycote Water Sailing Club

…And Finally…
Please send in anything you want published in the next newsletter, it can be anything of interest or relevance to the Youth and Junior Club, things like:

  • Y&J Results from Open Meetings and Events
  • Pictures
  • Interesting links
  • Articles
  • Feedback.

I really hope you find this newsletter interesting and thank you to all of you, kids, parents, carers, helpers and everyone involved who makes Draycote’s Youth and Junior Club the envy of clubs for miles around!

See you on the water soon!

Ant Clay 
Youth and Junior Fleet Captain

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