Grafham Residential Weekend 2023

Ask any ex-cadet for their best memories of their cadet experience and The Grafham Residential Weekend is bound to come up.

For many of our crews it is their first time at a sailing event without the support of their parents. For those transitioning on to helming it’s an opportunity to take charge of their cadet and gel with their crew. For the oldest in our fleet, this is their chance to set examples and hone their leadership skills. It was heartening to see all of this and more happening again this year.

Weekends like this help build all those key skills like resilience, self-relance and the ability to put on your own sailing boots. It is also a great chance to welcome new sailors to the Cadet family and it was wonderful to see lots of new faces.  

This year, with Mark Bailly at the helm and the most participants the class has ever hosted, the residential weekend was a resounding success. Despite Grafham’s renowned early March conditions (really blooming cold) and light winds we were pleased to see our 64 sailors chucking themselves into the everything on offer, both on and off the water.

Our coaching team were outstanding; lead by head coach Alex Page, we were thrilled to have ex-cadets Harry Chatterton, Conner Line, Bee Nee, Libby Bush and our National and European (and Australian national) champion Will Shepherd, all in ribs giving back to the class. For an old timer like me it was somewhat disconcerting seeing these sailors, who I have seen come though Cadets, becoming responsible adults. They treated our sailors to a well thought out program of coaching which saw visible results in more competent and confident sailors at the end of the weekend.

Mel and Duncan Bush bought an exciting new element to the evening entertainments program, I think their game of man hunt/rugby/British bulldog, in the dark, with glowsticks will go down in Cadet legend. It was lovely to see everyone snugged down (in one piece) in front of a film at then end of the day.

A massive thank you must go to all of the parents who gave up their weekend to make sure our sailors had a fantastic and safe time. Whether you crewed a safety boat, stayed over as a house parent or contributed to the hours of planning an event like this takes, we could not do it without you!

A particular mention to those who bought ribs up for the weekend: Sean Nee, Andy Bush, Kristen Kuhnert, Richard Loader, Steve Walker and Phil Vellacott and Toby Davidson and Steve who helped launch them with their own 4x4s. You really help keep the cost of a weekend like this manageable, we all owe you a drink.

Lastly it would be remis of me not to mention the sailors themselves. Your behaviour and attuite throughout the weekend was exemplary. Thank you for taking care of those younger than yourselves, for being team players and for grasping with both hands this part of your Cadet journey.

With plans already afoot for next year’s residential we will be sending out a questionnaire to all sailors so they can help us continue to evolve and improve.