The Chronicle 682

53 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Sailing By Louise Bowen, Head of Sailing, and Archie Screech-Dean, Captain of Sailing

Louise Bowen, Head of Sailing writes: September saw the Sailing Club start with a good number of regular sailors plus some keen new Shells. Despite restrictions due to Covid, the Club was able to maintain sailing three times a week at Farmoor Reservoir. All enjoyed the opportunity to get away from School and have some much-needed sailing practice after last year’s virtual Summer Term. In the first week of the Christmas holiday, Charlie Hutton, Izzy Rogers, Aidan Saunders and Thomas Hales returned to Farmoor for the MCS Schools’ Regatta. All represented the School very well indeed but Charlie was particularly impressive, remaining polite and smiley despite many crashes at the start line caused by another school. I was appointed Head of Sailing in October and began to think about the future of the Club as well as supporting our current members. With the help of captain Leo Wilson, we successfully encouraged an interest in the Sailing Club which led in the Spring Term to a record number of boys and girls wanting to participate. It was a real blow to us all that we could not get on the water, but Leo showed excellent leadership and initiative by running weekly fitness sessions, while Joe Porter hosted weekly virtual regattas to keep up sailing knowledge and develop tactics.

I am proud to see that many of the St Edward’s sailing team competed for Oxford at the NSSA regatta in July. It's great to see members of the team pushing themselves even further and I look forward to many of them bringing that mentality back into sailing at St Edward’s in September. Sailing at St Edward’s has always been a great experience but so much of it would not have been possible without the serious dedication of all the pupils involved. I would especially like to say thank you to Leo Wilson for everything he has done for the Club, and I wish him the best of luck as he continues his sailing career and inspires others in all their endeavours.

Returning to Farmoor in the Spring Term was fantastic and although the weather was often inclement we were able to continue with important maintenance on several of our boats. One of my main aims as Head of Sailing is to ensure that pupils progress with their sailing skills. All new sailors have spent the year working towards their RYA 1 and 2 qualification and I am proud to say that all have passed. Archie Screech-Dean, Captain of Sailing 21/22, writes: Next term, the sailing team and I are looking forward to reaching new heights in the sport. One of our goals is to compete against other schools more regularly in a wider variety of races and regattas. With the Club continuing to grow, more and more year groups are becoming interested in the sport, and I look forward to seeing pupils at all skill levels pushing themselves to become better sailors and team players. With a growing number of qualified seniors ready to offer their help and experience I have high hopes for the continued growth of the community as a whole. I cannot wait to see our sailors develop their strength and skills both through continued training on the water as well as through our new strength and conditioning sessions.

Charlie Hutton and Alexey Antonov Grantcharov