5 travellers joined 8 locals at Grafham for the second of 2 training courses that the Sprint 15 Association ran using Brian Phipps of Windsport as the coach. The weather was hot and sunny but a little more wind would have been useful to put the techniques to the test. The ability range of the participants ranged from those who had just bought a Sprint 15 to some old hands who wanted to sharpen up their technique (Thomas Sandal was the extreme as he was 2nd at last years National Championships!). Phil Warner (one of the new owners) had been on the previous course at Stewartby in April and he enjoyed it so much that he came back for a second go! The course covered dry land sessions to explain the techniques interspersed with exercises on the water. The sailors techniques were video'd on the water and then the play-backs were used at the debriefing sessions. The course also covered a boat maintence session on the Saturday evening after the breeze had died. All participants felt that they had got a lot out of the course so we would like to thank Brian Phipps for taking the time to do them for the Association and to Mark Aldridge who was the RIB driver for the Grafham weekend. A fuller report will be included in the next issue of NewSprint. Participants: Keith Ball, Jon Lyon, James Hurst, Eamonn Quigley, Kim Harris, Ted Waller, Thomas Sandal, Richard Whitelock(all Grafham), John Manning (Beaver), John Linnell (?), Phil Warner (Draycote), Keith Chidwick (Queen Mary) and Gordon Duece (Brightlingsea)    |
