Our First Visit To Draycote Water Sailing Club

In 2022 Blind Sailing is visiting for new sailing clubs in order to spread the word and open doors to sailors in the local area. Draycote is special as it is home to our very own Steve Irish who along with other coaches has been an and is an amazing supporter of Blind Sailing.

This weekend was another weekend were we turned our online sailing from lockdown into a face to face on the water season. We are often asked questions like,

What is the area like?

What is the sailing club like?

What should I wear what is the weather doing?

These questions are all easy if you know where to look, and are also key questions if you are off to an event and want to plan, to give yourself the best race day.

Sailors were given some home work, see what they could find out before attending, so after all arriving Saturday morning and introductions were done Steve asked the question?

It is like all home work, the dog ate it etc. but this is very new to some sailors, but new member Emily was quick to provide what she new about the weather for the weekend, which was a great start to the conversation.

Steve gave an overview of the list of things you need to have to build a picture of the venue and of course to build your race plan. He then divided the team into boats and set them all off to find out more, be it online ask a local or looking around using the sighted volunteers.

It was great to see, Lucy was off taking to the locals about the weather and what was normally expected for the forecast along with a large map of the area showing all the hills and valleys. Others found out about local shops they could get supplies etc.

We were soon all back in the class room with a great deal more knowledge of Draycote water and a plan for the weekend.

With thanks to the local Draycote Sea Scotts we were off in RS Quests for the weekend a great training boat. The wind was light but due to fill in, and it was a great chase to see if the knowledge we had built was a right! Body weight and roll tacking was key to get the races going, the boat that kept closes to the line and moving would be winning.

A great Saturday was had and then it was time for the barbecue in the sun, big thanks to our shore helpers for keeping us fed and watered, Jackie and Pat along with Anne, it is truly team work. Some great chats about the day, and thoughts on the information we had found out. One was knowing the right kit to bring as it was a warm sailing day.

Then it was off out to test the local pubs as it was a new area to explpre.

Sunday brought new breeze a bit stronger and with a bit of rain, so some would say a completely different day to train in. Again, we sat down with Steve and looked at the day ahead what would the new wind direction mean, would it be coming over the hills on to the lake?

With a bit more kit on we took to the water, getting set for short races all training and getting set for the keelboat league in September, 12 rapid minuets of racing! Key was getting on the line for the gun and judging the right side, along with the wind being up and down. It was great to see all teams working together, keeping the boat moving, looking at the line and making the right decisions. The day got tricker as the breeze dropped so key was team work and moving as one, looking at those roll tacks and looking for the breeze as it filled in.