SCOTTISH ELITE SQUAD TRAINING

On the weekend of the 10th and 11th I was sailing out of my home club, the Royal Forth Yacht Club, in Edinburgh.  I was fortunate enough to have Hugh Styles coach me for the two days.  Hugh helped Alison Young to the London Olympics, Rio Olympics and her 2016 World Title; it’s fair to say he’s a great coach and I can only echo this after my weekend spent with him on the water.  This opportunity was made possible with thanks to Tim Ellis and the funding made available to me through the RYA Scotland Elite Programme.

For the majority of the two days we focused primarily on hiking posture and turning the boat efficiently downwind.  Here is a short clip of me sailing upwind:

I made some great progress over the weekend but there is still heaps to work on as ever, exciting times!  Next up, I’ll be traveling to Palamos in Spain for a regatta just before Christmas.

Thank you for reading,

Lewis

ROYAL FORTH YACHT CLUB PRIZE GIVING

After a great days training through on the West coast I travelled swiftly back to my home club, the Royal Forth Yacht Club, for the annual prize giving.  Due to a very comprehensive debrief from the training session and the rugby traffic that greeted me when I got back to Edinburgh, I arrived just in time.  There were a number of awards given out on the evening, with three tables full of trophies!  I am very happy to say that I was presented with the Forth Yacht Clubs Association (FYCA) Cup for FYCA Yachtsman of the Year!  It was a great surprise that I am very thankful for.  I would like to thank Kevan Gibb for the nomination, and the Royal Forth Yacht Club and it’s members for their support over the years.

A special well done to Richard Leask and his daughter (pictured 2nd and 3rd from the left, back row) and to Willie Adams for their awards.  I have crewed for Richard on a number of occasions sailing out of Royal Forth and learned a great deal from him and his crew!  Another well done to Peter Cooke (pictured 2nd from the right, back row) on his awards.  I was given the opportunity by Peter to crew for him on his very well kept Dragon, definite jealousy there!

I have 2 weekends of training coming up and a trip to Spain for the Palamos Christmas regatta!

Lewis

ROYAL FORTH YACHT CLUB TALK

Thank you to Patrick Carnie and Royal Forth Yacht Club for inviting me to talk on Tuesday evening. It was very enjoyable despite my initial nerves.  I gave a presentation of my sailing journey from where it all began right up until last winter.   I gave a detailed account of the main things I learned at each point in my sailing so far.  I decided to talk about my main learning points to do with strategy and mindset, I feel as though these areas can be applied to a wider range of people in sailing rather than boat specifics.  There was a great response to what I had to say and the audience seemed interested in what I was talking about, which is a great feeling!  It was wonderful to be asked by the club to talk and it is very nice to be able to give back to the club as it was at RFYC where I started my sailing career.

If you are interested in having me talk at your local club or event please see the talks page in the menu above.