Author: John Nickalls

John organises Sail Training at MSC, and sails a Hurricane 5.9 SX with Caroline.

What a great turnout on Saturday! A grey, breezy day wasn’t the most enticing, but we had loads of cadets at the club, some good sailing and great food for the cadet laying-up buffet thanks to Tina and Sam! Well done to everyone who’s joined sail training this year, it’s been a really enjoyable year and you’ve all been brilliant to go sailing with. We’ve had a bit of everything, from fully-reefed windy days to calm drifters, and from wonderful planing reaches to spectacular broaches. But most of all I’ve been hugely impressed by the positive attitude everyone has shown,…

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Another great turnout at Sail Training, with enough sailors staying warm  so we could get the tennis balls out in the afternoon! We covered a few more items in the Start Racing syllabus, looking at leeward mark rules and with plenty of focus on boat handling and not capsizing… Here’s a short video from the session looking at gybing and how (not) to capsize… enjoy!

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2015 Sail Training #1 What a great start to the Sail Training season! It was lovely to see the club packed and full of action on a Saturday, especially on a very breezy day which didn’t start very bright. But when the sun came out it was smiles all round and some great sailing! Thanks to all the parents and helpers who got the paperwork done and provided so much vital help on and off the water :). Before we started, we did a quick recap of important things when it’s windy… Preparation: Tie a knot in your mainsheet so the boom can’t…

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Sail Training 3 was a great day! Excellent sailing across the groups, on a day when there was a decent but cool breeze. Here are some videos covering several topics, some of which were new on the day and some which were re-visiting what we’ve covered before. Enjoy! This one looks at the benefit of a good rounding of the leeward mark: This one shows an attempt to take advantage of a possible bad rounding by someone ahead of you: These two illustrate what happens if you try to barge in at the committee boat when there’s no room: This…

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We were delighted that MSC was invited to compete in the RHS Regatta this year. Sailed in Fireflies (and Fevas for the younger teams) the regatta was held at Alton Water, just behind the school. As always, RHS were incredibly welcoming, and the regatta was friendly and very well organised. We didn’t win, but for most of the entrants team racing is a major part of their extensive sailing agenda and the competition was tough. Overall winners were the Royal Navy SA, hot from their Inter-Services competition… It was great to see our cadets on the water, sailing very nicely,…

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After a balmy trip to Rope Runners for the cadet social last weekend, this week’s weather was just the opposite at Rutland Water for the 420 Inlands. A strong, gusty north-easterly, 4-6C and intermittent rain from threatening grey skies set the scene for a challenging weekend for Hannah Bard and Dan Nickalls. With easily the oldest boat and sails (leading to the class association’s dusting-down of a little-used ‘grandfathering’ rule!) in an intensely-competitive fleet (with squad selection at stake, and with personal on-the-water coaches at the top end), the scene was set for some challenges. Whilst Dan and Hannah didn’t…

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Sorry about the dramatically deteriorated weather for Mothers’ Day, it was our fault. As part of our efforts to develop the sailing and racing at Marconi (which is mainly focused on our youngsters, but a number of slightly less young members have joined in over the years… and they’re always very welcome), we ran an RYA course over the weekend for a disparate half dozen of keen instructors / racing coaches / mentors. With an intense mixture of sailing and coaching theory, briefing / debriefing skills and practise at running exercises on the water, the course (thanks to coach Bruce…

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On the afternoon of Sunday 8th March, the Cadet Fleet went to Rope Runners for two hours of adrenaline, excitement and competition. We got kitted up in our harnesses ready for the unknown. There were six courses, two bottom, two middle and two top, the hardest being the top right. So it was unsurprising that most of us went for the hardest courses first, a bit of competition came through here and a large amount of screaming.   I was the only one who had been before, so I thought I would find it easy, but on the first course Olivia…

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Who says January’s not a great month to go sailing? Marconi’s cadets were the guests of the Royal Hospital School at their centre on Alton Water last weekend to enjoy an afternoon of team racing. The water was a little cold, but the weather was sparkling and the wind perfect. Our team put in a great performance, with really good boat handling and some real team racing tactics… a pleasure to watch. Thanks to RHS for a great day!

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The 420 is a great boat to sail: it’s challenging, with a traditional symmetric spinnaker and a much more tunable rig than many other boats… and it goes really well in a breeze. It also has great support from the Class Association and the RYA. Hannah Bard and I, and Jack Collis with Jack Wardell, seized the chance to join 4 days of 420 Class Training up at Rutland Water (the week following the Laser Inlands). It was a residential course, staying in the clubhouse bunk-rooms with all the other sailors. The group was very friendly and got on well;…

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