“Launch your Laser” was set up alongside the Club’s usual autumn race training, to run over four sessions, but demand was so great that additional sessions were added. Club coaches encouraged sailors to get out on the water, alongside an external coach, Hannah Wilcox, who worked with the club’s coaches to provide training and continued professional development.
Jemma MacFadyen is one of the sailors who took part. She said:
“It’s been really fun, inspiring and useful. Hannah Wilcox is an excellent coach and encouraging us to learn from our own experiences and instincts on the racecourse. We’ve done a series of drills and it has helped us think about tactics and strategy, as well as how to optimise the Laser on all points of sail. Highly recommended, a really fun and diverse group of sailors and we were all buzzing after the session.”
More broadly, it has enabled the club to get ILCA (Laser) dinghies out of the dinghy park and on the water, demonstrating to sailors how versatile the boats are, and how much fun racing in a single class can be. An added bonus has been that the session enabled the Club ILCAs to be set up effectively, and members were encouraged to use them.
If your club has experimented with any innovative formats to get sailors on the water, we’d love to hear them – please get in touch.
For more information about how to get out on the water in the East Region, visit www.rya.org.uk/startboating.
