Pleasant sunny day. Northerly winds of 12 - 14 knots but heavy gusts up to 23 knots.. Arrived in morning to practice and then take part in the Novice Race in the afternoon. The reservoir is at a low level at present and launching has to be gradual due to the very shallow waters (ie rudder and centreboard cannot be fully deployed until many yards off shore).
When ashore the Wind did not appear strong but out on the water it became fierce. On occasions strong gusts would appear from the north and then very suddenly change direction and blow from the south west. The gusts and large changes of direction flattened a number of dinghies during the morning.
Our skills at handling the Xenon in strong winds are now quite respectable and we decided to keep with the full rig. We had a number of near misses in terms of a capsize but did manage to maintain control throughout, although the Xenon was often full of water. Playing the mainsheet and hiking in the very fitful wind was exhausting. Our arms were aching after only an hour on the water. We took the view that launching the gennaker in such unpredictable weather was asking for trouble so we kept it dry.

It was a warm, pleasant day, overcast with a few spots of rain. Aerage wind in Bewl Water was 7 knots but punctuated by some fairly strong sustained gusts. Intention was to practice launching, retrieval and Gybing with the Xenon gennaker.

The first problem was a very hurried packing of the Gennaker and equally hurried Gennaker rigging. This cost us dearly in time. The first launch appeared to be successful, the gennaker inflated and operated well but the gennaker downhaul line looked oddly positioned. An attempted gybe resulted in a twisted gennaker and it could not be retrieved. Rather than risk damage by applying force the luckless crew clambered across the bow to bundle up the jammed gennaker and we returned to shore. An attempt to correct the poor rigging and off we went again only to find yet more problems with the gennaker rigging.. After lunch the Gennaker was completely deriogged and re-rigged. This time correctly.

This RYA Course was organised by Bewl Valley Sailing Club. It was a superb course with three highly skilled instructors, including the Clubs professional. Approximately 18 boats took part from Toppers, Wayfarers, Feva, Magno and Xenon etc a real successful mix!
On the first day the winds were fortunately relatively light and the day focussed on boat control; following closely in line trying to avoid collisions with the boat in front, running a tight figure of eight course that gave practical experience in applying the avoiding collision rules and of course many practise racing starts.
The theory sessions covered starting  tactics, the essential rules of racing eg. avoiding collisions, rounding marks and penalties and some very useful general tips on sailing.
On the second day the winds were much stronger. The emphasis this day was on starting techniques and boats were paired off for a succession of short races round a single mark and back.  The objective was to illustrate the importance of a good start position and boat control.  Getting either in such conditions was not easy!

Sailed on Weds 16 June - Force 5 - 6 - what a sail!
 
Normally mid week sailing is not on because work gets in the way but both Tim and I struck lucky on Weds. Arrived at Bewl Water and noted some movement in the trees, Little sign of sailing going on - they were all sheltering in the lagoon! The lower wind speed was around 18 knots with maximum gusts of 28 knots!
 
Unanimous decision to reef the Xenon, although by the slipway the wind did not seem that bad. Launched and within seconds the wind struck. Grandad leans out hard, Tim spills wind and Xenon flies. White horses are running across the reservoir and sizeable waves hit the port bow and water sprays over the dinghy - Grandad gets wet and can't see through his glasses. Tim too busy to notice. That was just the start.