The final RS Tera National Squad training session came to a close last weekend but because it has come to the full-on racing season where the squadies' winter training will be put to full effect.

The weekend began on the Saturday as the squadies arrived with their boats to be welcomed by Netley S.C - providers for the squad training and host club for the 2010 Nationals. Jonathan [Lewis] kicked off the weekend by getting the group together to reflect on what had happened since the Squad had last been together as a group which included events and successes or disasters; for example Tommy destroying his boat at the RS Feva Nationals.

After the briefing the Squad got on the water for a mini-regatta which for some people got a bit too competitive due to the fact that Jonathan had told them there were prizes to be won, so there was close racing with positions rapidly changing throughout each race. The objective of the day was to see how the sailors handled pressure at the front of the fleet and how their sailing was affected. 

The next day the Squad had a briefing on the beach discussing ideas on what we should do for the day left. Jonathan decided on doing rolling starts with Pro and the Sport fleet starting together. This caused problems for Sport sailors due to fact the Pro sailors would be able to power up quicker and get on top of the Sport sailors. After going in for lunch the Squad set out again for some racing but by then the wind had picked up and the smaller sailors were struggling to keep the boat flat and powered up. The racing was fast and furious with the heavy weather sailors prevailing over the light and non-aggressive.

Due to the fact that it was an onshore breeze the sailors undid there mainsheets and drifted in instead of grinding their boats up the beach. The weekend ended with a debrief about what each individual had learnt that weekend and what Jonathan and Ollie thought the sailor should improve on.

So the first bunch of National Squad sailors has completed their training and now the real work begins. At the end of this season some of the sailors will move on to bigger boats but will hopefully remember their days in the Tera Squad and for the rest of us we will need to sail as well as we can to ensure selection for the 2011 Squad.