ROTTERS Winter Training with IOCA North
Published 20:29 on 10 Mar 2026
The ROTTERS finished up their winter program on Saturday 7th March by hosting Optimist sailors from across the North region for an open training session. IOCA arranged for three coaches to attend and 10 visiting sailors joined 7 of our ROTTERS in the IOCA groups, while another 7 ROTTERS sailed in the club training group.
At first there appeared to be no wind at all and there were a few worried faces on coaches, sailors and parents, but by the time everyone was rigged and changed the breeze was starting to fill in and after a few warm up games on the field the Oppy sailors divided into groups and started to head out on the water with the club group following.
Most groups came ashore for a quick break in the morning session, though some stayed out all morning fuelled only by Haribo. By lunch time everyone was more than ready to eat. Peter had done an amazing job in the galley getting jacket potatoes ready for over 30 people and the kids were quickly fed and back out on the field playing football while the washing up crew kicked into gear.
Heading back out for the afternoon sessions the groups swapped around to work in different areas of the lake. Having sailed up to 2 in the morning, the club group started the afternoon sailing round a small triangle at the top of the narrows, with some sailors working on improving their leeward mark rounds while others were still refining their tacking technique. Then, after a quick break the club group headed down to P to work their way back up the narrows while the 3 IOCA groups joined up for some end of day mass races.
Getting all 24 dinghies off the water and on to the right trolleys took a bit of effort, but there was some great teamwork on show from the sailors, helping each other get boats up the beach. Cake and hot cross buns were available during debriefs before half the sailors headed back out to the field to try to finish their football game before being dragged home.
Thanks go to Lindsey & Will for co-ordinating the IOCA event, to Seb, Olivia and Lola for coaching, to Peter in the galley and to all the parents who stepped in to man power boats, launch and recover sailors, wash up and tidy up in the club house and generally make the day run smoothly. In the club group the ROTTER of the month award went to Jamie for his awesome efforts.
A short video of the event highlights has also been shared on the club Facebook page.
Last updated 20:29 on 10 March 2026