RYA Instructor's Day

I had never been on one of the RYA Training days before so it was with some trepidation I drove down to the Anderton Centre, near Chorley this morning to learn a bit more on how to fly an asymmetric spinnaker. I had  never sailed anywhere but Bassenthwaite in England .and I had never been on training with other instructors, who would all no doubt be very good! I need not have worried as there was a wide variety of age and experience  amongst the 12 of us. Our Instructor was excellent and the wind steady and light and the other trainees encouraging of each other - just right.
 I guess the only thing that was worrying was that the mechanism of rope and pole for raising and lowering the spinnaker sometimes worked beautifully when I was pulling  and other times was so stiff that I absolutely could not budge it. This meant one of the men in the boat had to swop places quickly and yank hard before we ran out of water. There did not seem to be any particular reason why it should be so variable, but it is a fairly major drawback if I am trying to sail or teach the procedure.

Elsewhere on the water there was a group having a taster at wing foiling and an initiative, 'See Sailing Your Way' for blind and partially sighted sailors, so there was a great feeling of vibrancy and acheivement around the slipway and at lunch.
Because the day was so full-on, the picture is just as most of the boats had been packed away, but in the background there is Rivington Pike, with its Beacon Tower. It is famous for one of the largest mass trespasses in history when in 1896 10,000 people ascended it to enforce their rights to roam.