Magenta Project Post report

Report from Carol Sherwood (Hon Treasurer)

We met Paula and Hannah in our club house at 9am and they chatted a bit about what Magenta was before separating us into 2 groups. There were 12 of us with various experience levels. Whilst I started sailing about 12 months ago I haven’t actually done a great deal of it, mainly just sailing with the club, doing the races in the bay. It hasn’t been consistent, due to the weather either so I was a little apprehensive about what would be expected of me. Mary and Hannah were great and put everyone at ease. I was with the group sailing on Rascal, owned by Mick and Fiona Mullane. Fiona was part of our group also.

We were all given the chance to move around the yacht working the different roles, including the spinnaker, which a few of us had never done before. We all agreed that as crew we are rarely given the chance to helm and so it was good that we were able to have a go and learn what to look out for and to get the feel of the boat. Rascal has a tiller whereas Windshear, the yacht I crew on, has a wheel and so it was a different experience again.

Hannah was so calm with us and talked us through every manoeuvre slowly and made sure that we were all prepared for the next move before undertaking it. There was no stress involved at all and we all worked well as a team. Hannah’s mantra was chat, chat, more chat, routine, safe and fun and just to enjoy it, which we certainly did.

The weather was perfect, initially no wind at all but by the time we were ready to leave the harbour it had appeared and stayed with us for the remainder of the day. We were out from about 11.15am to 4.30pm.

We all agreed that everyone had learned from the day and would definitely do it again. One of our group, Annie Morrison said that it had inspired her to take her yacht out and put the spinnaker up, something she had been resisting. Afterwards we set up a Whatsapp group to share photos from our group.

For me personally, it has given me more confidence and I have a bit more idea as to what happens at the bow end of the yacht!

I would definitely recommend the Magenta day to everyone as Mary and Hannah will work to whatever experience/ability you have and to bring the best out in you. We were all buzzing by the end of the day.

[metaslider id=1282]