Guest crew shares a few tips

The team met for another weekends skiff training today. Before sailing a few jobs were long overdue, one in particular was debranding the sails and hull from the former sponsors Investec. The boys were seen in the wet bar at Rutland wielding a hairdryer over a vast sail and getting some strange looks.

Today saw a guest crew of Stu Mears from Pica, bringing him alot of European circuit experience. The boys invited him up to show them a few things and so he could see how the team was progressing. The No2 rig was chosen, which proved to be ideal for the strong winds that followed.

The usual upwind and downwind course was set after a short blast up the arm. Alot of small changes were highlighted by Stu such as the order of swapping sides in gybes and a totally different method of gybe dropping. The boys also practised sailing the boat high on the wind. Stu talked them through trying to kill the apparent wind by letting the kite curl, getting weight back and allowing some extra heel. The boat stayed out for a long few hours, with tacks becoming much faster with plenty of power out the other side. 

Tomorrow is forecast for a lighter wind day, but the forecast for today was wrong, so the rig decision could go either way. The rutland skiff is joined by KKT, and hopefully the boats will make an appearance at sunday racing.

Chilly February Sail

As the JJ Giltinan is being hotly contested on a 25 degree Sydney harbour, a long way away in the Northern hemisphere, the Rutland and KKT teams got another days sailing in. Matt, Tom and Stu could only make the Sunday because of Cherub commitments and Mike and Tom arrived home late on Saturday night from a weeks skiing in France. Both teams were keen to just get out on the water for a blast.


The No1 rigs were chosen by both teams, with wind looking to be at the top end of the range. There had been a widespread frost since the last time the boats were out and it was obvious as the boats we're being launched in very cold lake water. The fresh gusty breeze caught the Rutland teams by surprise and after a few dunks and splashes, a quick downwind run without the kite was needed just to warm up.

Once the boys stopped being girls about the cold, numerous kite runs were setup in the main pond the same length as the fleet of cadets course meaning alot of quick hoists and drops and little time to think. Upwind, the boys tacks were smooth and effortless, showing that the hours spent in the boat over the winter were paying off. On the boys last kite run, they lined up with KKT who had an interesting hoist, somehow getting the kite up flogging and triple wiring nearly upwind. A few close gybes and runs followed, giving a good idea of just how much bad air the big rigs can give to boats around them. One final gybe from the boys saw too much steering from Tom and Mike couldn't hit the wire quick enough to stop the rig sending the boat over and the 3 boys for a very cold swim.

Once the boat was righted the boat headed straight in without discussion. Whilst the boys weren't cold yet, the water would soon make them tired and force mistakes likely to result in breakages. Both boats made it to shore safely and quickly derigged before the dark and cold set in.


Both teams are hoping to get out next weekend and hopefully get some more structured training in.

New Year Starts

The team have had a short break from sailing for other commitments before all three could get together for a sail, though Mike and Mark managed a couple of days to get fabricate a new wheels system to wheel the boat around.

The boys got out again last weekend and were joined by the KKT skiff team from Calshot, who are now based at Rutland for a couple of months. Both teams are at similar level and are hoping to get boat on boat training in to get both boats up the fleets at the events this year. 


Both teams rigged up the No1 rig as the wind and forecast were around the 10 knot mark. Even launching was easier with two boats, with the lift being much easier with a few extra pairs of hands. 

Both boats made it up to the tower, and started to set up a windward leeward course, focussing on playing with some settings discussed on shore. The manageable winds allowed both teams to practice tacking, especially when match racing style covering techniques were being used by the boat. At the top mark the rutland team went for the first set, with a good bear away as practiced in previous sessions. Mark was quick to get the kite up the mast only for it to float back down again. After a bit of shouting and Mark managing to pull the halyard all the way down the mast, the finger was quickly pointed at Tom for his apparent inability to tie a bowline. Unfortunately, this meant no kite for the rest of the day for the Rutland team, but the KKT guys were able to get some practice in. 

In subsequent upwinds it was obvious both teams had slightly different methods of sailing in the lighter breeze, the Rutland team, footing off to speed up on apparent wind and the KKT team pinching to gain height. After a few runs, it appeared there was not alot between the two styles, with only shifts causing the difference between the two boats.


Both boats headed ashore before it got too light and the sun went down. They headed for a quick drink and a curry to chat about the day and figure out what to do for sunday.


Sunday came with very little wind, which quickly changed the agenda of the day to sorting the boats out. KKT looked at setting up a kicker reference system like that on Rutland's, and generally checking blocks to get rid of the Solent's sand to prevent and expensive chandlery bills. The Rutland team had a general tidy up and starting debranding the old Investec logos and zebra from the hull. 

Both teams got alot from the weekend and are looking forward to getting the boats out again hopefully for a bit longer and in some fresher breeze, to get some training in for Garda later this year.