What does it actually mean to be in a RYA Zone Squad?

The zone squad is a giant leap in ability and commitment from the Team 15 level that most children attend. I am in the North & West zone squad with our leading coach Ian Roberts (the famous boxerciser) and other coaches James Bulleid, Alex Griffiths and Ali. It is a great zone to be in especially because we (the North Zone) won the Eric Twiname last year.

The First Meet

The first ‘meet’ of the year is where all the zone squads come together which can be nerve wracking but once you know some faces it’s cool. This year we met at Datchet near London on 27/28 January. The main emphasis behind this first session is making sure you know how to rig and tune your kit – no more parental help! Parents also get the RYA treatment with explanations of what is expected of them and you, how many races to attend, about the training sessions etc. You also get to learn how to keep an exercise diary which you must up date and send to your coaching mentor in the Zone Squad each month so they can see your commitment and preparation. The wonders of pasta and brown rice and jelly babies gets explained and the terrors of cheese and fatty foods, all in moderation of course.

A Day at the Zone Squad

Life is very structured! By 10am you are rigged up, warmed up and on the water. On the water you do a wide range of exercises for different skills varying from downwind speed to upwind pumping. Each coach has a different way and a different exercise to represent the technique or skill so it never gets boring. The coach will video your sailing and after lunch or at the end of the day you’ll have a video debrief to show you where you are going wrong and where you are succeeding.

If it is too cold or not enough wind then you will be entertained by your coach in some practical tactical exercises or you will go through some rules or fitness exercises. Either way you are learning windsurfing related exercises and activities which should give you some sort of advantage against your opposition on the national tour. Aspects of being a professional sports person are also looked at from exercise to food to sorting out your kit.

For more info on Zone Squad selection go to:

www.rya.org.uk Or ask your Team15 coach.

UKWA South-west Cup at Marazion, Cornwall

This event is one of the biggest of the season with hundreds of camper vans descending onto Marazion beach car park for 4 days of dodging the shore break and battling with the Cornish winds. I arrived on Thursday 5th April after travelling from Weymouth where I was attending an RYA residential camp. To our disappointment there was no wind and no sign of the infamous shorebreak, so we had a quick dinner then went straight to bed in our new caravan at a camp site two minutes away from the beach.

The next day the event commenced, and with 29 sailors in the Techno fleet it was going to be a hard event. But there was no wind, so after a frustrating morning of being on standby we had a quick lunch at the local café which was 10 metres away from the beach – perfect! In the afternoon the race committee sent us out in less than 6 knots which weren’t my favoured conditions to race or even just sail in. So unfortunately at the end of the day I went away with a 21st and a 22nd. I was not pleased and neither was my Dad. Then for the rest of that day the wind stayed away so I had no chance to catch up with the rest of the fleet.

On to the second day of the event; the wind was still less than 6 knots but the race committee still decided to send us out one mile off shore only to send us back, which was a real drag. After a quick lunch we were out again to do one 45 minute low wind race which I improved to 17th which wasn’t good enough but going in the right direction.

Now I bet we’ve all seen them on TV or in pictures but have you ever had them swim less than a metre from your board? Of course I’m talking about dolphins. It was a great feeling having creatures from the sea so close to you (they are massive by the way). That was the highlight of the entire event for me!

At the beginning of the next day I was hoping for four races. The wind still wasn’t great but at 8 knots we went out for two back to backs were I got two 17ths which still wasn’t up to standard and after lunch they got us out for the last time for two more races and the dolphins were back, this time on the start line. At 12 knots of wind it was perfect and with a good start I ended up with fourth which is more like it. It was a back to back race so I was worried I would be terrible but it came good with an eight. My overall result from the weekend was 12th until they changed the results to one discard instead of two which put me down to 14th but I wasn’t disheartened because I had windsurfed with dolphins in Cornwall over Easter weekend!!

See you next month!