Full Report - Day 1
Monday, July 30
Yesterday, almost everyone arrived on time…with luggage. Bad weather seemed to be everywhere except here at the club: it was a lovely sunny day at Pleon.
This morning brought rain and a slim prospect for wind afterwards. John Vandemoer and his coaches (Ward Cromwell, Molly Vandemoer, Sarah Lihan, Allie Blecher and Thomas Barrows) divided all the girls in to four groups and rotated the groups every 30 minutes. Topics ranged from body positioning in the boat, to proper rigging, to tactics at the start. It went very well and the girls said they were learning quite a bit more in these smaller groups than when they are all together as one large group. Meanwhile, the sun came out, the wind started to move the flags around and it looked like a lovely day.
After lunch (the roast beast was the big sandwich choice of the day), everyone got rigged up and went out for a sail. No sooner had all the girls cleared to mouth of the harbor than the fog settled in, which was a good thing, because it kept the storms from rolling in. Anyway, it was quite a scene out there: 51 JWS competitors (divided into 4 groups, with various coach boats zooming about), as well as numerous small groups of Optis, Radials and 420’s from the local clubs, all blowing whistles and going around each other’s marks…in the fog.
Finally, John corralled everyone back to shore, where they had a quick snack and were picked up by their host families for a shower and dry clothes. Tonight, we are going for a harbor cruise aboard the Hannah Glover with dinner included. Tomorrow looks great as far as weather and it’s the girl’s turn to ask the coaches specific questions.
This part of the country is so pretty this time of year. The water is a lovely 65-70 degrees and the folks at Pleon and Eastern Yacht Clubs have been extremely accommodating and have thought of just about every detail.