Clinic report by Thomas Chaix and Alan Ruigrok. 09/01/2010

29 sailors ultimately braved the cold winter to make their way to Tralee, including Iben and Laerke all the way from Denmark. A massive thanks to their parents who took the driving wheel on icy roads and snow to get down to what was surely a great success! The scenery with snow on the Mountains, gorgeous sunshine and relatively good breeze contributed to the feel good factor. The 3 days provided various sailing conditions from flat calm ( the rigging session) to a solid 18-20 kts with lovely waves and with about 10 hours afloat within the 3 and half day, all went home pretty happy.

topics covered :

Final weather update : 02/01/2010 at 11.00

Not much change really! another great day looming in Tralee. It is cold, but the 100% sunshine is already warming up the air and I anticipate another excellent day in light air.

Situation :
Not much evolution since my previous forecast. The low pressure is slowly making its way west just south of us. This will generate the initial Easterly wind at 15-20kts before making its way further south allowing the wind to decrease and the northerly to settle once more. Day time temperature in the bay should remain above freezing for the full duration of the clinic helped by a decent percentage of sunshine over the next few days.

Lead coach communication : weather update 01/01/2010

First of all, I understand you might be worried in various part of the country as I could see snow falls and very low temperatures around, but Tralee enjoyed a absolutely amazing winter day with clear skies and gorgeous sunshine and today would have been a superb day afloat!

Weather update :
The low pressure south of us looks like going further south than initially anticipated. As a result, the winds should be lighter than initially thought and the cloud cover might not be as dense allowing sunshine to get through. If the weather remains cold, the lighter breeze and increased potential sunshine would work very much in our favour decreasing the wind chill factor.

Keep an eye as I will give another update before lunch time tomorrow.

Lead coach communication pre-clinic. 31/12/2009

School representative, general & shore manager : Lorna Browne : 087 7606795

Lead Coach and On the water liaison : Thomas Chaix : 086 1725256

1. Long term forecast for the clinic

This weather forecast was established on Dec 31st by Thomas analysing Gib files and XC weather data and completed by Weather specialist Burke Corbett. Burke will update the coaches each morning before the start of the activities.

Anticipated general situation from January 3rd and following 4 days in the region of Tralee.Tralee, as part of the south of Ireland will be affected by the North East VERY cold air flow established over the UK and Ireland generated by a high pressure centred East of Greenland. However, there is a fair possibility that the Stationary low pressure centred West of the Bay of Biscay will have an effect as high as Tralee keeping temperature above freezing at ground level. The low should remain stationary until the 5th when it will make its way south East allowing the northerly flow to cover all Ireland and become pretty stable for a few days.

Sun 03, Easterly (E-N-E), dry but cloudy, cold (0-2degC, wind chill factor -10), windy (18-20kts). Mon 04, North Easterly, dry, cold (0-2deg C, wind chill factor -6), windy ( up to 20-25kts) but decreasing in the afternoon. Tues 05, Northerly, dry and sunny, cold (3-4degC, wind chill factor 0/+1), light to medium (7-10 kts). Clear night so very cold temperatures expected. Wedn 06, Northerly, dry getting cloudier, cold (0-2 degC, windchill factor -5), medium air (8-12kts)

Of course this is only a forecast, and various alarming Met Eirann forecasts are predicting colder weather. Be however aware, we are on the coastline, on the Atlantic side and benefit as a result from milder conditions than usual forecasts.

2. What this forecast mean

s- Sailors MUST be equipped for cold weather sailing. Coaches will not allow sailors with insufficient gear to launch.
- Coaches will keep sessions SHORT and INTENSE and will split the day in two to allow sailors to recover in between two session
- Coaches will closely monitor sailors and will make decision to send a sailor or a group ashore if felt necessary
- Various shore sessions will be set. Not being on the water does not mean there is nothing to be learnt!

3. grouping

34 sailors have confirmed participation. The standard varies from good regatta to the top of our fleet and two top class visiting sailors from Denmark.The clinic is led by 2 international coaches and an experienced junior coach with their own personal strength. Various local instructors will assist the team to keep delivery of the coaches at the highest.All sailors will potentially be exposed to the full panel, so groups will be announced on the day and may change each day.

4. shore activities

Morning briefing and evening debriefing are “compulsory” but the coaches will offer various “optional activities” ( in red on program) approached more like workshops on topics of interest. Furthermore it is hoped we will be able to have an evening out all together ( to be confirmed). Thomas, as national coach for Ireland will also have a workshop for parents interested in getting more information on the how and why with the “coach the coaches” presentation as a starting point.

5. Provisional Time-table

If it is felt by the sailor/parents that they are too tired/cold to attend one of the optional session, resting and relaxing home is recommended. Some of these sessions will be re-run throughout the clinic if necessary.The program takes into account the initial two days have a very high wind-chill factor and that Tuesday is our best day for sailing, but will be reviewed on a daily basis to adjust to the weather evolution.

SUN 03:

10.00 : unloading boats/rigging. Thomas presents clinic and objectives to parents.
11.00 : Briefing with kids / grouping
11.45 : Launching for water session (if possible, otherwise a plan B will be put in place for all ashore)
14.00ish : recovery
15.00 : debrief
16.00 : optional session on goal setting/expectations/diary ( about 2 hours long with a break in middle) with Thomas
16.00 : optional fitness session with Alan
16.00 : Optional “pre-race” prep and analysis. Learning about the “what to do” and how to use the info collected
18.00ish : END

MON 04 ( late launching anticipated with current forecast):

10.00 : optional fitness session with Thomas and Alan
10.00 : optional knowing more about rigging with Dennis
11.30 : briefing
12.30 : Launching for water session
15.00ish : recovery
16.00 : debrief
17.00ish : END

TUE 05 :

9.00 : optional fitness session with Thomas and Alan
9.00 : optional open questions with Dennis ( especially aiming at sailors that may have missed a debrief or an optional session on Sunday or Monday)
10.30 : briefing
11.00 : Launching for water session
12.30ish : recovery for lunch break
13.30 : Launching for water session
15.30ish : recovery
16.30 : debrief with Dennis and Alan
16.30 : “coach the coaches” talk with Thomas ( For parents and assisting instructors)
18.00ish : END

WEDN 06

9.00 : optional fitness session with Alan
9.00 : optional team racing talk with Dennis and Thomas ( note it is mainly aiming at the IODAI and RCYC team going to Monaco later in month)
10.00 : briefing
10.30 : Launching for water session
12.30ish : recovery for lunch break
13.00 : final debrief with Alan and Thomas ( Dennis must head to airport at 12.00)
14.00 : END

You will note the sessions afloat are relatively short. This is in anticipation of the cold weather. However depending if the sailors manage to deal with the conditions, these times will vary.

Tralee Bay Sailing School Open clinic. UPDATE 02.12.2009