Weekend 24 May 2015: St. Andrews trip

We had a good time this weekend, with Training for Level 3 and Day Sailing. The level 3 covered advanced sailing techniques, and builds on the level 1 / 2 course that many Members have done. We’ll be developing some of these skills one evening a week with details in the bulletin so you can read up or watch YouTube videos. This week’s subject is heaving-to and laying-to (ways of stopping a sailing dinghy in the water) and sailing slow small circles. These are important boat control techniques.

Friday evening the Day Sailing Course did some passage planning for the Sunday trip to St Andrews; this involved looking at tides, weather, boat equipment, planning the compass direction to sail and looking at likely hazards on-route.

Sunday we had four boats on the water doing this passage. Rather windy (Force 5) Westerly and we quickly got to St Andrews with reefed sails via a short cut through the sandbank at Tentsmuir called The Pool. We found and coped with all the hazards planned for – sandbanks, rocks, creels and big waves – and a good time was had by all.

A special mention to new member Jim whose boat “Clara” had previously only sailed on Forfar Loch and who thoroughly enjoyed the wide open horizons of St Andrews Bay.