News - 21/05/15

RTYC members assembled at Shepards Wharf Marina on a fine Saturday morning for a weekend of training on the new J/70s with Ruaridh Scott, J/70 National Champion leading the coaching, reports the Royal Thames Yacht Club in their May newsletter.

Members were able to see the exciting developments at Shepards Wharf including the new Events Centre that is nearing completion and the new RTYC workshop/container. After a briefing during breakfast at Amabi, the excellent restaurant in the marina, Ruairidh walked members through the finer points of sail set-up and trimming to maximise boat speed.

The rest of the day was spent sailing a windward/leeward training course with Ruaridh and Josh Downer, the new RTYC bosun at Shepards, swapping around the boats to give everyone the benefit of their wisdom. Conditions were close to ideal with a breeze varying between 12 and 16 knots and blue skies.

That evening, members assembled at Bahar Tandoori in Cowes High Street for a convivial dinner. The ‘bring your own Tandoori’ provided the perfect setting for an off-the-water de-brief and some reflection on the day’s activities.

The following day, amidst glorious sunshine and a slightly reduced breeze the same successful format continued, this time accompanied by back-to-back short races, which certainly tested out all the skills which Ruaridh had been imparting.

J/70s at Shepards Wharf Marina

The unanimous view of the members is that the Shepards base provides an ideal ‘race base’ for RTYC in Cowes and that the boats are a fantastic asset that members can enjoy for both competitive inter-club racing and also against other J/70s in the Solent.

Top photo: J/70 training weekend. Credit RTYC.

With thanks to the Royal Thames Yacht Club for permission to reproduce this article.