Last weekend 23 sailors from Burghfield headed down to the coast to sail at the 2012 Olympic site at Weymouth. For many of the group, a mixture of Admirals club and non Admirals club members, this was their first ever experience of dinghy sailing outside of the relative calm of an inland lake.

We enjoyed plenty of wind and sun, and over the two days got used to the bigger waves and sea spray in our faces – lots of us had to reef our dinghies for the first time ever, whilst others experienced their boats ‘turning turtle’ – not usually a problem for us here at Burghfield! It was however great being able to set a course and sail with consistent winds for much longer distances, and on the Sunday, we set out on a longer trip to explore the boundaries of the huge harbour area. Thankfully, help was generally close at hand from Jeremy and George, in Eric the rib, to deal with the odd broken halyard or booms falling off!

WPNSA facilities were excellent, especially the non stoney launch area, and Sail Laser, from whom some of us chartered Lasers, Picos and Laser 2000s could not have been more helpful. Many of us stayed at Boscowan house, which provided hostel style accommodation near to the sailing facilities and a large group of us enjoyed dinner at one of the new restaurants that is springing up near this great sailing facility.

Many thanks to Nik and Hilary Bratton for their excellent organisation, and to Jeremy and George who gave up their weekend to drive the rib and provide us with safety cover and some structure. It was an excellent weekend that is definitely to be repeated next year, so keep an eye out for the publicity in January and get your bookings in early!

Photos of the trip can be seen here