Would you believe it, spring is officially here!
The days are getting longer and soon the clocks will go forward, signalling the start of our 2022 season of activities. Of course, many of our young sailors have been out on the water throughout the winter.
The Draycote Academy led by head coach Steve Irish ran almost every weekend, with the final session taking place last weekend. The Laser/ILCAs, Optimists and 420s were also out in force every month, often in some very challenging conditions. We look forward to seeing everybody putting their new skills to good use in the coming season.
We published a calendar of events in January and an updated version has just been released. Here are some of the highlights for the early part of the year:
25th March from 7.00pm – Pizza Party at the Club
All the fun of our regular Friday nights, but without the sailing! Come along to the club for a drink, a bite to eat and a chat, catch up with friends and get your eye in for our regular Friday night sessions starting the following week.
1st April – Friday Night Short Course Racing, Fun Club and BBQ kicks off.
Every Friday until September.
For those keen to race, we have a series of quick one lap races on a small course, followed by one longer race which is scored on handicap. The results from this race each week are scored as a race series with 50% + 1 of the total races sailed counting (so for example, if we sail 20 races in total, your 11 best results count). Prizes are awarded at our Fleet Championships in September. The 2021 Series was won by Lola Hewitt in her Oppy – well done Lola!
If you are not quite ready to join the racing, our Fun Club will get you out on the water to boost your skills with guidance from coaches and instructors.
After sailing, the bar is open and the BBQs are lit, so bring your own food along and get together with friends afterwards.
The action on the water starts at 6:30pm every week, so make sure you arrive in time to change, rig and launch before then.
9th April. Saturday Club starts.
Every week until October, we launch at 10:30 and sail for about 2 hours.
Please arrive in time to rig and change before then. The purpose of this session is to boost the skills of those who have at least a basic ability to sail, aged 8 or over, whilst having loads of fun… and Jelly Babies!
All sessions are run by RYA coaches and Instructors, but we are all volunteers so please help us by helping your children to rig their own boats and put them away after the session – we are always available to show you if you are not sure how they are put together or where everything is kept. We also ask that a parent or guardian remains on site for each child during the session.
There are no fees to attend Friday or Saturday sessions. Participants must be members of the club and club boats are available for hire at a cost of £5.00 per session.
7th May- Discover Sailing Day – bring a friend…or more than one!
Instead of our normal Saturday club, we have a chance to bring your mates along and show them what brilliant fun sailing is! More details coming soon!
Race Duties
The Y&J Committee have 2 dates on the race duty roster to fill, the first one is coming up on Sunday 27th March, and the other is Wednesday 20th July. We need a minimum of 2 people from the Y&J fleet – not just the committee itself – for each of these dates, and it would be great to have different juniors for each date.
You don’t need any previous experience and staff will be on hand to help and guide you. It’s great fun and a good way to learn how racing is run.
If you’d like to try, please email the office on office@draycotewater.co.uk or phone on 01788 811153.
Northamptonshire Youth Series
Dates for the 2022 series have been announced with Draycote hosting the first one on Saturday 21st May. Draycote will again be supporting this series and we hope to see a good number of DWSC sailors at these events.
Full details can be found in this Y&Y article and updates on their Facebook page.
There is plenty more coming up – check out the calendar, and keep an eye on our Facebook page for all the latest information (It is a private group, so you will need to ask to join).
Finally, all these activities are volunteer run. It has been great to see some of our more experienced sailors who were in Saturday Club only a very few years ago coming back in the last year to help the next generation of sailors start out on their journey. We always welcome more help, so if you would like to lend a hand, as a young sailor or a parent, please do get in touch – you don’t have to be an instructor, or even a sailor – help ashore is just as valuable. The more help we have, the more events we can run!
See you all at the club very soon!
Jon Hughes
