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Owen

Another boat for sale has been added to the boats for sale section

Owen

Hi,

The following won (one or more) trophies at last years Nationals. Will you please confirm that they will be returned to either myself, Rob Foreman or sent to Mosselbay for this year’s event?

James Stock

JJ Liddiard

Chris Gough

Andrew Hill

Jessica Hogg

Gareth Baxter

Jessica Gibbons

Can you guys please help in chasing these up, especially Chris Gough & Andrew Hill for which I don’t have addresses.

Thanks

Owen

The Annual Western Cape Dabchick Training Camp was held at the Imperial Yacht Club, Zandvlei on the weekend of 25th and 26th October 2008.

Nineteen young sailors from various yacht clubs (8 from IYC, 8 from MAC, 2 from ZVYC and 1 from Mossel Bay) registered for the event which started at 13h30 on the Saturday. Lance Dixon (the IYC commodore ) welcomed all the participants and introduced them to the trainer, Gareth Blanckenberg.

The winds on the Saturday afternoon were pretty strong resulting in two-up Dabby sailing (and even then there were numerous capsizes), light on the Sunday morning and ideal on Sunday afternoon – a little of everything for the sailors.

Gareth provided a very professional approach to the weekend concentrating on all aspects – sail setting, setting up the boat in different conditions, boat handling, the mental approach, etc.

Lectures were given in the Clubhouse followed by on the water practice and training. These sessions were recorded for analysis and de-briefing after each session on the water.

On Saturday evening the wind dropped away completely and the sailors could relax and sort out sore limbs. On Sunday morning before the wind arrived the Dabby sailors were allocated the task of constructing a boat out of coke bottles, string, a wooden dowel and some cloth which would be able to reach across our “duck pond”. It was interesting to see the various approaches and designs. One team’s boat actually made it across the pond under sail!

Dabby moms from IYC kept the hungry sailors satisfied and very well fed – thanks to all who gave up their time for the juniors. Again thanks to the many fathers for piloting the rescue and training boats – I’m sure the youngsters appreciated your assistance.

It was quite clear as the weekend progressed how the sailors’ abilities improved due to the intensive coaching and encouragement.

The juniors were collected by their parents around 17h00 on the Sunday.

Thanks once again to Gareth for both his time and sharing his knowledge with our youngsters.

Rob Foreman

See more photos here.