Laser Racing 09

My first event in the laser was the youth nationals although with a bigger rig, the radial. The Monday saw light winds and only 2 races completed. On Tuesday there were fairly strong winds but 4 races were finished. Wednesday was extremely windy but the radial fleet took to the water to put on a show for Princess Anne, a guest at the event. The wind strength of 30 knots gusting 45 knots and shifting 35 degrees at a time, meant numerous capsizes and about half the fleet retired including me. On Thursday and Friday the wind was so strong that no racing was to be held so a whole load of us set up a study corner to revise for our exams and blocked Largs SC hallway.

After the Youths I have been racing at my home club, Loch Tummel, and at different locations with the laser travellers. Last Sunday the 17th of May I was at my home club again and came first in the fast handicap race in the morning and third in the afternoon race. Just got to keep it up now!

Winter Training

A fun but cold winter in the laser 4.7 training at Port Edgar with the East sqad. Also I took part in the lasers' open training at North Berwick with temperatures of -10c. It was so cold that when washing the boats off the water froze instantly....Brrrr! Top tip for cold sailors: Use a shower with boiling water and stand under it to warm you up, also fill your boots with hot water..... very effective. The next open training was at Loch Venacher, warmer but with snow. Instead of a run for warming up this time it was a snowball fight, much more enjoyable. Training went well with coaches throwing snowballs if you were slacking. The last training was at Largs and I'm glad to say without snow or freezing temperatures!

All blown out

Well, Sunday saw the annual Christmas regatta at Strathclyde Loch Sailing Club- Katie had spent the previous week off school ill with the flu bug but nothing would stop her taking part in the regatta. It was blowing a hooley and the trip down used tonnes of diesel but the brave (daft?) few decided to go out anyway. Katie set sail and headed off towards the start line. Swimming seemed a better option that day, though, so after numerous capsizes came back in. The wind was blowing force 6 so the event was abandoned after the first race. It meant a good chance to catch up with her topper friends and arrange to meet at the Tay Boxing Day regatta for prezzie swapping.

She's now hoping Santa has lots of room in his sack for all her sailing presents!

Now we're into December and the freezing temperatures, but the sailing still goes on. Katie's on her winter training programme. Early November was the first weekend at East of Scotland squad training at Port Edgar (under the Forth road bridge). She is using her 4.7 (small) rig for training and when she asked for her correct handicap to be applied to the racing her coach refused, saying she'd beat everyone anyway without the benefit of the handicap!

The next outing was to Laser class training in North Berwick for the last weekend in November. It was extremely cold with light winds but lovely and clear (see picture) and made a good break from the school exams. Best tip of the weekend from the coaches - put hot water in your wetsuit boots to keep your feet warm! Lots of boat handling work was done with a big improvement by the end of Sunday. Downside of the weekend - Dad has decided to do the coaching too (see yellow boat) rather than sit on the shore for yet another weekend!

This weekend saw Katie back at Port Edgar. She left home with thick snow on the ground and black ice on the roads. The boats were even frozen to the trailer on arrival at Port Edgar. Saturday was another day with really light winds so the morning was spent on-shore carrying out boat prep and tuning. The winds picked up on Saturday afternoon so roll tacks were much in evidence including competitions to see how far over you could roll the boat - and a swimming lesson for Katie! Sunday was another cold start with winds building to gusts of 35 knots by late afternoon. There was a mini regatta and Katie came 2nd even though she had a blond moment and started a wee bit late with the bigger rigs!

Carsington



Katie's best results on the circuit last weekend at Carsington. She and Sammi Foster both did really well. Katie finished 51/134. Poor Sammi's injured foot finally gave way in the penultimate race meaning she dropped right back in the results. Jo Foster also had a good weekend finishing well up from the bottom and completing all races - well done Team Tummel!



Katie now moves into the Laser for winter training with the first session taking place in a couple of weeks at Port Edgar.



She would like to thank all the people who have supported her this year in the Topper including the Parents, staff and friends of Blairgowrie High School, Perth and Kinross Council and the RYA as well as Milford Vintage Engineering Ltd and EMC Ltd.