The New Year is over and there is a new sailing season to look forward to. Sailing starts again at the club on Sunday 25th March 2007 and I intend to start Friday evening training for the Junior Race Squad in mid-April.
This season squad members must have obtained their RYA Stage 2 qualification. This standard will be raised to Stage 3 by the end of the season. Those juniors who wish to take part in the Junior Race Squad please contact me by email at mark.platt@mouchelparkman.com or phone on 01204 491482 with the following information:
Name
Sailing Qualifications i.e. Stage 2 or 3
Type of boat sailed
Date of birth
Contact details email, telephone number & address
Training will be in junior’s own boats as most of the club training boats are being used for other training. If you do not have access to a suitable boat please contact me and I will try to help.
This season the club is to host one of the RYA NW Junior Travellers events on Saturday 23rd June. This is a prestigious event for the club I would encourage as may juniors as possible to take part. The other dates for the Junior Travellers events are as follows:
| 2007 Season | Venue | Contact |
| March 31st | Elton S.C. | Dave Woodhead 01257 265208 |
| April 21st | Winsford Flash S.C. | Jon Close 07816 463970 |
| May 7th | Budworth S.C. | Tony Wilcock 01925 860458 |
| May 12th | Leigh & Lowton S.C. | Gareth Williams 0151 422 8207 |
| June 9th | Ullswater Y.C. | Peter Dawson 01768 362052 |
| June 23rd | Bolton S.C. | Warren Price 01772 321014 |
| July 7th | Coniston S.C. | Tony Johnson 01229 822364 |
| Sept 8th | Redesmere S.C. | Peter Baldwin 01625 584442 |
| Sept 15th | Delph S.C. | Marina Hijab 01254 702944 |
| Oct 6th | West Lancashire Y.C. | Dave Bower 0151 523 0358 |
Most of these events are within an hours travel and some like Elton, Delph, Leigh & Lowton are considerably less. To qualify for the series competitors need to take part in five events. The racing is on a handicap basis, but most of the competitors sail toppers and lasers (4.7, radials or full rig). I would recommend juniors to get involved in these events as this level of competition will help raise your skills very quickly. The level of abilities is very mixed from beginner to zone and even national squad sailors.
If you are interested take a look at the Junior Travellers website: http://www.nwjt.co.uk/
