The trials - one parent's report

From the webmaster.  I happened upon this report from a parent from one particular club and his account of the 2nd leg of the trials is well worth a read.  I have done some editing of the report to make it more generic as the personalities or the club involved are immaterial.  The message however, is strong, moving and well worth reading - particularly the final paragraph (which is unedited).

The second half of the 2009 Optimist Trials were held last weekend at Lough Ree Yacht Club near Athlone. An objective report on how the event panned out and the final results is on the International Optimist Dinghy Association of Ireland site. This report is a different beast altogether - the partisan perspective of a particularly pleased parent.

Our sailors, felt confident going into it as LRYC was the venue for last year's Crosbie cup where they performed particularly well in the Junior fleet. Like many families with participating sailors we had a front-row seat in a RIB on the water. This, it turns out, is a mixed blessing for both parent and sailor. On the one hand it's great to be close to the action, see a race unfold, be there afterwards to feed, water, and encourage.

But on the other, I'd like to be within earshot and yell "what you should do is...", and suggest where in the boat to sit, what to do with the sprit, centreboard and mainsheet, advise on line bias, whether to duck or tack, and offer the advantage of years of sailing experience to my precious offspring. But we're well aware of the "outside assistance" rule in races and suffer through them making mental notes for the post-race chat of "what you should do next time..."

Saturday and Sunday provided great sailing conditions with a moderate and largely consistent WSW wind blowing around 10 knots. The racing was competitive, challenging and tiring. Our sailors were sailing better than the first weekend, made superb starts and picked up some good scores along the way including top 10 finishes in the fifth race. But along with the good results came all the challenges and heartache of sailboat racing: being on the wrong side of a wind-shift, wavering concentration, unintended fouls and the required penalty turns, shockingly unfortunate capsizes.

Monday was an entirely different day. The wind was a gusty 20knots with a dark, grey, overcast sky. The race officer was hard pressed to set a course and stabilise the heavy steel committee boat even with several anchors. Two hours after launch the first race of the day got going in a steep chop and a wet, nasty squall gusting to 27knots and the testing conditions quickly took many of the sailors out. Yet our protégés showed their tenacity and ability by digging in and finishing both races of the day when it was terribly tempting to give in (I wouldn't have bailed my boat for the 14th time so I could finish, that's for sure).

This first Optimist Trials for our current sailors reminded us of some things we've known all along, and taught us some new lessons. We were reminded we have some great sailors and they enjoy their sailing. Our sailors learned they can compete with the country's best and with a bit more consistency they'll further improve their mid-fleet ranking in the season ahead.

I also learned a lot about parenting and the "what you should do..." preceding my (questionable) pearls of sailing wisdom have become something else. I encourage the persistence required to climb from last place at the first mark to a few places higher at the finish. I admire the honesty it takes to watch 15 boats go by when doing a two-turns penalty. I've had to find a way of helping him off the floor when he feels he's underperformed, and offer comfort when he's rattled and fighting back the tears. As well as celebrating the good scores, I‘ve to help him view "success" as far broader than the cold number on the results sheet. The only "what you should do" left is "have fun, lots of it". He's particularly good at that.