Welcome parents, I’m Chase, the Head Coach at LYC this summer. Throughout the summer the coaches will take turns writing daily summaries of what we did on and off the water. We’re constantly taking pictures of the camper’s progress on the water, so these updates will come with a gallery of photos.
The first day of camp this year was spent on swim tests, capsize drills, and general knowledge of LYC and each class’ boat. Each sailor was checked in their ability to swim with and without life jackets, navigate a capsize with a partner, and understand the parts of the boat. The capsize was simulated by flipping Optis in the diving well of the LYC pool, always a class favorite event. Everyone took turns getting in the boat, getting flipped by coaches, learning to breathe in the boat’s underwater air pocket, and recovering the Opti.
With capsizes under their belts, the sailors learned how to rig their boats. Each fleet learned the mechanics of rigging and how to launch their boats so they’re ready for their first sail tomorrow (weather permitting). During the afternoon storms, sailors also learned how to tie a variety of important knots that they’ll be using throughout the camp; they then decided to tie a few of the coaches to chairs with their newfound skill!
The 420 fleet spent the afternoon learning about how to read and respond to wind shifts. Everyone in the group this session is experienced, so we were able to jump right into more advanced racing theory. We covered boat-to-boat interactions in shifts, how to identify if you were headed or lifted, and how to spot shifts by reading your sail.
Green Fleet went sailing in the afternoon to warm back up and shake off any rust. They sailed a few courses to get tacking and jibing again and fished with a moving circle-the-coachboat drill before afternoon storms cut the sail off early.
It’s going to be an exciting session; I can’t wait to be on the water tomorrow and get sailing!
-Coach Chase
