I’ve been busy with the young sailors from both Chernikeeff2 and John Merricks II this weekend beginning the packup of both boats for the winter. Jobs include completely emptying the boats and storing the equipment for the winter, checking and rolling sails and removing the mast for safe storage and checking over the winter. Both crews have had hugely successful seasons - including finishing 11th and 12th overall out of 300 boats in the Rolex Fastnet race - which bodes well for the future, both of these youth campaigns and future top level British sailing. During the winter, sailors from both boats will be undertaking work on the boats in preparation for the 2010 season and also participating in a range of shorebased training sessions to improve their knowledge and skills.
Another great autumn sailing day on the Solent, this time for a charter day organised by Charles Tavner for 10 guests. Light winds in the morning meant we were able to take things slowly to start with, but the enthusiastic guests quickly got to grips with the different areas of the boat. Many of them worked in wind generation technology and were asking some challenging questions regarding aerodynamics! We popped in to Cowes for lunch in the hope that the sea breeze would fill in later in the afternoon and timed our departure from the Pier View perfectly, as we had up to 15 knots in the western Solent during the afternoon.
Just back from a glarious day sailing on board ‘John Merricks II’ with representatives of the many companies in the marine industry who support the boat in a range of different ways, including product advice and heavily discounted goods and service. This was a gesture of thanks for their support, an opportunity for them to meet some of the crew and see the boat, and also a business to business networking opportunity for all concerned. We were incredibly lucky with the weather with bright sunshine and light winds - not quite enough to show off the full potential of the TP52 but great for allowing everyone to get really involved with sailing the boat.
Thanks to the representatives off all the companies that attended: B&G/Simrad, Grapefruit Graphics, Harken, Henri Lloyd, Ocean Safety, Performance Rigging and Pig Bags. Hopefully, those companies that were not able to attend - Hamble Yacht Services, North Sails, Premium Liferafts and RORC - will be able to make the next one!
I have been involved with organising the RORC annual dinner over the past few months, which is going to be held on 7th November at Banqueting House in London. This promises to be a great night for all,with over 200 tickets already sold! Full information is available on the RORC website.
Hopefully, there will be some prizes to collect for both crews the young crews I have coached this season!
Wow, apparently a month has passed since I last manage to update this, though not sure where that time has gone!
I have loads of really positive feedback on the performance of both John Merricks II and Chernikeeff2 in the Fastnet - it is great that the sailing community recognises the achievements of the young sailors involved, which hopefully bodes well for the future of both boats and the sailors themselves.
We have also started to look at plans for into next season, really trying to build on the positive momentum from the Fastnet. Part of this is organising the pack up of both boats from this season - which will mainly happen this coming weekend - and also starting to organise some winter training for the sailors.
A big part of the success or otherwise of next season is going to be raising sufficient income to continue to run the boats for the benefit of the young sailors involved. I have therefore spent a lot ot time talking to potential sponsors and people who might want to charter the boats to try to make this happen.