 |
 |
|
 |
Schull Reports. Superb new pictures added to Gallery. Have a look. These are excellent examples of how Oppie pics should be taken. Close up and personal!!
Schull winter Training 2009 Mild weather (for the time of year- dry suits were still needed) and light winds featured for the 7 th annual Schull winter training this year. The quality of coaching this year made Schull a coaching event as good as other International coaching clinics. The numbers attending increased by 50% on the previous year due partly to the memories of the sunny summer weather in 2008 and partly due to the coaching line-up planned as well as the shore side fun, games and activities for adults and sailors. The ISA National squad attended also meaning a massive 150 optimists were on the water each day. As usual the event was hosted by former National Optimist Coach David Harte who oversaw the coaching of the sailors who were broken up into 12 groups. The Fleet were coached by a Greek coach (Vagelis), 2 Italian (Massimo and Stefano), 2 Danish (Dennis and Kasper) as well as top Irish coaches Prof O’Connell, David White and Will Atkinson, local coach Shane Newman and local instructors Conor, Oisin and Peadar . Video analysis, on the water training and inter-group racing all helped the sailors to sharpen their skills. Many of them made big improvements from one day to the next. We had one The planning and organisation paid off and thanks to the help of the Beachmaster and his team of volunteers all sailors were on the water by 11 a.m. on the first day. Little brothers and sisters who were just beginning did very well in the Gold Fleet and were all sailing triangles in no time and those who were too young or didn’t want to start sailing joined the fit-bones adventure group where they had great fun with plenty of muddy clothes to prove it. Shore side there was great fun and games with Sumo Wrestling and Gladiator jousting proving very popular (see gallery for photographs) . An epic sumo wrestling battle took place between host David Harte and Coach Prof O’Connell. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH38tP3XLrY to see it for yourself. Prof was declared the winner but Harty was seen showing the bite marks on his hand for days afterwards. A quiz was organised for all sailors on the Wednesday and this too proved to be a resounding success. Some sailors took an opportunity to learn about distant stars, planets and galaxies on the Tuesday and Thursday evening and can now at least find the North Star to help guide them home if sailing their optimists at night, something we definitely do not recommend. Adults had a variety of activities from Power Boat courses to leisurely lunches and long walks and many volunteered to help with catering, safety, launch and recovery and social activities. One of the highlights of the week was a live phone-in from The Green dragon boat as they sail in the Calm weather meant there was little sailing on Thursday or Friday but coaches took advantage of this time to do theory. A wide array of prizes such as skate boards, water balloon launchers and sleepover kits were given with the overall coaches award going to Orlaigh Thompson and congratulations to her. All in all these sailors are set up early for a year of good competition and hard sailing. Well done to all who took part and to those that organised it. I’m sure that they are already looking forward to 2010 and some are suggesting this event should be held twice a year. Don’t forget to look in the Gallery for photos. click here for a further report (Howth sailors)
Conor, deservedly received multiple comments on his superb organsiation of Schull. Here area few samples:
"Congrats again for organising such a great week -fantastic feedback. I think you've a job for life there!"
"Just a quick note from myself, Hana and Hope, just to say a big thankyou for a great week in Schull. We all really enjoyed the event and appreciate all the effort that goes into making the whole thing happen. Hope you were not too exhausted - we look forward to next year already."
"I'd like to thank you for the tremendous work that went into making last week in Schull such a great week. All of our part of family and friends, sailors and non-sailors alike, had a great holiday and our sailors learned plenty. That it went so smoothly is a reflection of the preparatory work and the team you had with you. Well done and thanks again"
"......could you pass on my sincere congratulations to the organizers of Schull. Superbly organized! A huge effort by all involved." "WELL DONE!"
"Schull was by far the best experienced in the 3 years I have attended the event. Certainly the weather helped and the years of trial by error ensured some mistakes were not made again." "However, I believe your attention to detail and good planning made Schull 2009 a truly wonderful experience for the sailors and their parents and has put Schull on the IODAI calendar as an event not to be missed." "Well done"
"........ congratulations on Schull 09. It was by far the most successful Schull camp I have been to. You put a huge amount of organization into it and it showed through and through. So many people commented, both extablished parents (comparing it favourably to former years) and newcomers who were thrilled with it."
"Thank you for all your hard work and congratulations on a very successful week We all enjoyed ourselves very much, and Please extend our thanks to your committee for allowing a sailor from the Thanks again David,
|
|
|