We’re following the progress of aspiring young dinghy sailor James Gosson as he gets ready for the 2018 season. #dinghydreaming
With the new dinghy season about to start, I thought I should recap on progress from the end of last year.
In July I successfully completed my RYA level 3 course. If I wasn’t before, I was now totally hooked, this was the start of it.
In September I entered my first race, the Acorn Llangorse Regatta on Llagorse Lake.
I was in the regatta fleet in my first race and came 7th out of 9th not the best start, but with a bit of support from my club instructors, I came back and won my next two races which put me 1st overall.
Towards the end of September I entered the Welsh Zone Championships in Fishguard. This was a more challenging event, not only was it my first big event, but it would be my first time sailing in the open water. Up until now I have only sailed on Lakes.
Again I was lucky to have a lot of support from my club, which helped greatly.
Over the two day event I had 5 races, in my first I placed 2nd out of 6 then for the next 4 races I placed 1st which gave me 1st place overall.
October saw me race in the Club Youth Racing Circuit (CYRC) for South Wales at Mumbles Yacht Club. I had 3 races placing 1st in all of them.
Next came Tata Steel Sailing Club CYRC, where again I was lucky to place 1st overall.
Unfortunately I was unable to complete in my home clubs CYRC as I was lucky enough to be offered a provisional place in RYA South and West Wales regional optimist squad.
I attended the first weekend training session proving myself, and gaining me a full position in the squad.
So that’s it up to October last year (2017) stay tuned for my next blog where I will start to develop my skills in squad training……..
James
Ed: We will be following James’s progress as he expands and improves on his racing during 2018. #dinghydreaming