Bewl Valley Squad Training

With the weather forecast for Saturday ranging from a steady 6 knots slowly building to around 12 knots and Sunday’s forecast being 12 knots gusting up to 18knots, the scene was set for an amazing first squad weekend. New squaddies would have the opportunity to learn and practice new skills and techniques over the course of Saturday then adapt them and put them to better practice on the breezier Sunday.

As everyone rocked up Saturday morning it was impossible not to notice the astonishingly low water which has also been the case at many other reservoirs around the region.  After a quick rig everyone assembled ready for the first briefing of the weekend and winter. Jonathan didn’t hesitate to make people feel at home in the squad and after a speedy introduction to all new comers the first lesson began. We discussed the correct techniques for ‘reverse flow’ and filled in new squad members about what it was. We were divided between Pro sailors and Sports sailors and taken off by our selected coaches. The newbie coaches present were Libby and Tom. The Pros were given to Tom and Tintin (Dan) and the Sports were delegated to head honcho Jonathan Lewis and Libby Watkins.

After a quick run and change we were ready to hit the water!

The Pros began by sailing around a windward leeward course allowing Dan and Tom to gauge  current skill levels and pick up on any bad habits. With the main focus on smooth roll tacks and gybes technique was crucial. After giving everyone areas in which to improve the fleet faced a number of short punchy one lap races whose winners were determined by the quality of speed, starts and tactics given the swinging wind coming off the shore. Anya proved consistently at the top and set the standard for the day.

After a chilly sail a warm lunch was fantastic and we gathered upstairs ready for the evaluation of the morning’s session and the plan for the afternoon session to come.  After being told we were going to be taking part in two lap team races the pros were buzzing but not without a reminder that we shouldn’t be crashing into each other! This would be a test of skill, tactics, rule knowledge and ability to find clear air. It also put quick decision making to the test which can be the difference between winning or not out on the race course.

The wind had built and we were now able to hike and get the boat shifting; team racing became a real rush as we were divided into 5 teams of 3 and were pinned against each other in back to back races which consisted of two teams racing at a time.

After a debriefing and changing into smarter clothing we were ready for the squad dinner. It was great fun and we enjoyed post training banter and cracked various jokes related to the animal on Dan’s top lip. Sadly this was short lived by an early night for some (not the parents).

Sunday morning saw rocketing excitement at the prospect of meeting England rugby hero Jason Robinson who later went for a cruise in an RS Vision with national squad parent Martin Lewis. Inevitably he went swimming but luckily cameras were at the ready!  He was joining us with the team from Proskin who were generously presenting all National squad members with thermal legging and top base layers. Over the course of the day the verdict was unanimous that the Proskins were brilliant in maintaining your body’s temperature as well as relaxing your muscles during and after exercise. 

After a briefing we took to the water this time all in one group. The plan was that the Sports would race off after a 3, 2, 1 sequence and a minute later the Pros would start and race through them in search of clear air! It would force both Pro and Sport sailors to get their heads out of the boat. With Daniel Lewis dominating almost every race during Sunday and with a couple of wins for me and Anya a high level of competitive spirit was evident among the Pros.  

We came ashore de-rigged and enjoyed a relaxed debrief with video analysis to aid the coaches with pointing out improvements for bad tackers who were named and shamed. The video not only helped the person who was being videoed but gave coaches the chance to demonstrate areas which relate to bad habits of some of the  guilty squaddies hiding at the back.

 It was an amazing weekend fraught with capsizes (mainly me) but there were successes and all learned valuable lessons which have improved their performance. I was also pleased to be named overall sailor of the day for Sunday for the Pros with Joshua Boniface taking the title for the Sports.

By Flynn Davies, Pro National Squad