This is an interesting idea I have been handed.

At the very beginning of next season we could hold a training weekend. This was put to me as a spinnaker training weekend but it seems to me there's no need to limit it to spinnakers only. We have had training weekends later in the season, but if we hold it early it gets everyone up and running for the season and if it's before most clubs start racing, this gives us more choices for weekends (which is important - read on).

The idea is we pick a venue - some club that doesn't mind us coming along and which can provide a rescue boat and maybe a couple of turning marks/flags. We don't need any races run.

Then we pick a couple of weekends in late September or early October. Now we set up a form on the VMCA site so anyone who's interested in coming can send in their phone number or email address. Then on the Thursday or Friday before the first weekend the "organisers" will look at the forecast and decide whether to say "GO" or "LEAVE IT TILL NEXT WEEKEND" and let everyone know. That way we have another chance at getting a weekend with the right mid-range wind strength.

On the day(s) we can do some on-shore stuff and then go out and sail up and down the course with someone on the rescue boat shouting abuse - sorry I meant advice.

The last weekend of Sept (first of October) is the opening regatta at Lake Bonney YC, so it would probably be good for anyone thinking of going if we have the training weekend before that. A sort of substitute for the sadly missed Bendigo Icebreaker.

Venue suggestions so far are Latrobe Valley (again - but the water is warm and there's camping), Port Melbourne (central with a few Mosquitos), and Somers (not quite central but lots of Mosquitos).

What does everyone think?