Improving Sailing

 Courses are great. Especially the bits where we have 1:1 or in our case 1:2 coaching. In the boat or next to the boat, an experienced sailor can easily spot our mistakes and help us to improve our speed when sailing.

Persued by a gaint swan

 At first glance, I thought the Tug, Oxford, was being chased by a giant swan. When they got a little closer, we could see that Don and his Boss's son were towing the Swan.

Wed, Picnic, shower and no wind

 

Wednesday on the Water, no wind, a few showers, towing the boats up to the island for a picnic. They did manage to sail back.

Seeing little treasures

 One of the real joys of sailing on the Thames isn’t the racing — it’s the gentle cruising, discovering hidden beaches and fascinating little places along the way

A Man and a Buoy

 New Blog entry RYA 2 Sailing A Man and a Buoy https://pmrsailing.uk/Philips-Blog/A-man-and-a-buoy.html

Using the Spinnaker

 One of our achievements on the RYA Course was sailing with the spinnaker. Rowan, our instructor, demonstrated how to deploy and furl the spinnaker and how to sail with the asymmetrical spinnaker.

6 of 9 miles done in the time (4hrs)

A nine-mile race. We managed 6 miles ( 4 laps). If you look really hard at the pictures, you can't see any boats in front of us - that's how far behind we were. Fourth off the line, but then we fell back.
 

First for the Picnic

 We started nearly last at the Club for a long sail up to the picnic site. One by one, we overtook each boat until the Toura arrived first at the picnic site. It's amazing what the thought of food can do.

Capsize Drill

RYA 2 Capsize drill, at UTSC. The Toura goes over, and then we successfully right the boat, but Paul can't get in, so we do it again, this time rolling Paul into the boat with help from another sailor. The safety boat is only metres away.

 

Jumping back into the boat

 

If you look carefully, after the beach landing, I had to get back into the boat. The best I could come up with was launching myself into the boat like Superman. Others described it more like a salmon jumping

Club Boats in a Row

 All the toppers, Zests and Fevas, and my Toura are all lined up to do the RYA 4-day event at the Upper Thames Sailing Club. My knees hurt. I don't know which knee to limp on.. Gearing up for tomorrow.

RYA 2 Course tomorrow

 Tomorrow, Paul and I will join 20+ others at the Upper Thames Sailing Club for my RYA 2 Course. I have been learning as much as I can on the Start Sail Courses. Hopefully, the weather won't be too wet, and we get a little sun and not too much wind.

Exhilarating Race

The wind was across the river, so we could sail up and down the river on the same tack instead of tacking up or down. And in the moderate wind, it was an exhilarating race.
 

Moving in Behind

My usual view through the gap between the mast and the sail of the boats in front of us, moving away. The boats behind? There aren't any.
 

Spinaker

 We spent a few hours today learning how to deploy Spinnaker on the RS Toura. After numerous attempts, we can now successfully launch and recover the spinnaker on dry land. The next test will be to see if we can deploy it in the water

Weather for sailing?

 Tomorrow I am on a start sail course in the morning and a Safety Boat Course in the Afternoon. It's looking like loads of rain, little wind and some thunderstorms likely. It's going to be an interesting day.

Following the Zest

 Philip, one of our new members at UTSC, was out enjoying himself in a Zest. After an initial capsize through a Gybe, we followed him in the Safety Boat to ensure that he didn't come to any harm. Much of the work in the safety boat involves identifying risks and determining who is most likely to need help.

Alone in the safety Boat

 Paul is alone in the safety boat. We had a busy day, in gusty winds, a capsize, and boats being driven into the shore, so whilst I was helping out a boat in trouble, Paul was rescuing another.

All comers Race

The All-Comers Race! After a week of training at Junior Bourne End Week, the cadets are ready to take on the club. We’ll be doing our best to secure a glorious last place while watching them all zip past us with style!  #JuniorSailing #BourneEndWeek #LastPlaceGoals
 

Learning to Sail

 Learning to Sail is certainly taking longer than I thought. Just taking a boat out is no problem, but aiming for a mark, avoiding other boats, and just trying to keep up with them is the hard part.

75 Sailing Terms

 Do you know all the necessary sailing terms? I have 75 descriptions of the terms you need to know and understand before you take to the water in https://pmrsailing.uk/sailing-lessons/Sailing-Terms.html

Becalmed on the Thames a Poem

 Becalmed on the Thames

The sail hangs loose, the water’s glass,
No ripple breaks the trees that pass.
Reflections paint a world so still,
Where time itself forgets to fill.

No chatter but the creak of wood,
Two souls adrift in quiet good.
The river breathes, the world unwinds,
In whispered winds and peaceful minds.

No race, no rush, no need to roam —
Just sky and stream, and thoughts of home.
A moment caught, serene, unplanned —
Two hearts afloat, one boat, one strand.

Sprint Racing

 Sprint racing: be on the line, blast off fast, and try not to get overtaken before the first yawn. Ours was a zigzag course up and down the river with three marks — basically a slalom for boats, with ample opportunity to heroically overtake... or be embarrassingly overtaken.

 We’re on the scoreboard!

The first race went as per tradition — we reached the top mark, the wind disappeared, and we performed several elegant pirouettes before conceding defeat. After multiple failed attempts to round the mark (and watching everyone else sail off into the sunset), we gracefully retired.

Then the wind picked up… and so did a thunderstorm.

In Race 2, things finally clicked. Paul managed to hang on to the second group — mostly Lasers and a feisty Lightning — and we actually finished the race! No capsizes, no dramas, and best of all… we took the bell

We all moored up as the edge of the thunderstorm hit - boats and thunderstorms don't mix.

Then we continued our success in the third race of the day, taking the bell and not coming in last ( ok we came in second to last the other boat having capsized and recovered)

A great day out in the end — soggy, surprising, and strangely satisfying.

Start Sail Cancelled

 We had planned some more lessons for this morning, but they have been cancelled, so we may not have learnt and practised enough to improve for the races tomorrow at the club. These are short sprint races where we have to be quick off the line - usually we are last and fast up and down the course and we are certainly not that.

Working together

 Progressing from sailing single-handed to going double-handed in a Wayfarer. Learning to work together to drive the boat forward as a team.

Weekly Safety Boat Duty

Safety boat duty is not about racing up and down the river; it's not about pulling sailors out of the river; it's all about watching and providing reassurance by just being there, giving new sailors confidence that if anything could go wrong, you are nearby to help.
 

Cool and damp

 The weather was much cooler, but the wind started to pick up and we had lots of boats out on the water including 4 Zests and two wayfarers and several other boats, braving to dampness in the air and being coached by our retired instructor Sally who was out in the Safety Boat offering advice to impve the sailing.

Time for more splicing

It's a hot day by the River. There is no wind. An ideal day to learn how to do some more splicing, joining ropes, making loops, fitting ropes around formers and learning to make neat end splices.