Happy Friday from the Junior Club!

Week 1 Wrap-Up

Our first week of sailing is officially over!  We kicked off the season with some awesome wind and weather for the majority of the week.  All of the classes got right out on the water for some sailing after a long, cold winter (after swim and capsize tests, of course).  And, despite the slightly less cooperative conditions on Thursday and Friday, we stayed on track with some chalk talks focused on getting back into the boats as well as some higher level sail trim tips.  We ended the week with a program-wide game of ‘Sailing Jeopardy’ quizzing the sailors’ knowledge of knots, parts of the boat, points of sail, and even some molecular biology.  The most fun was had during the endurance competitions on the hiking bench in the Junior Club – we even saw some instructors and parents jump on to give it a try!  For a more detailed review of what each class learned this week, see below.

Beginner Opti Class

This week we introduced all beginner Opti sailors to sailing.  We first worked on getting everyone familiar with the Optimist by having several rigging and knot tying sessions.  To add a little fun, we had several relay races, in which sailors utilized these skills.  On the days where it was fairly windy, all sailors were able to successfully round a mark positioned off the dock and sail back to the dock.  Finally, one day we made it out of the mooring field and sailors were able to perform a reaching oval drill, which included tacking and gybing around two marks.  Overall, we are off to a good start and by the end of the summer, we would love all of the beginner Opti sailors to have the ability to sail upwind and around a race course.

Intermediate Opti Class

The week started with some moderate to heavy breeze.  The group did struggle to begin with and were quite scared by the wind, but no one was upset at any stage.  When the lighter winds came later, we settles into some basic upwind and downwind sailing with a focus on five “essentials” to consider when trying to sail fast.  We also incorporated tacking and gybing exercises to work on boat handling.  This was mixed in with some sailing games.  When there was no breeze, we went swimming, visited the creek, and touched up on some theory.

Club 420/Pixel Class

This week the 420s got in some breezy spinnaker and trapeze work, as well as some light air sailing.  We also tuned our boats and learned about sail controls.  In breeze, the crews gained confidence in their trapezing ability and the skippers focused on keeping the spinnakers flying through gybes.  In light air, we worked on rolling the boats through gybes and weather sheeting.

Laser Class

First week down, 7 more to go!  At the start of the week, we focused on upwind and downwind in moderate to heavy winds.  We also worked on analyzing the course, as well as judging the wind and the current.  For the second half of the week, we worked on light wind sailing and practicing roll tacks and roll gybes.  Throughout the week, we worked on boat control and sail controls in both light and strong winds.

We are proudly introducing, for the first time ever, The Corinthian Times, a "news" letter on the daily goings on at the Junior Club.  Enjoy!