During the week we held our second Baltic Development Clinic, this time in Nida, Lithuania. The small summer village is situated along the beautiful Curonian Spit which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The clinic included 15 sailors from Lithuania and Latvia, with many of the sailors attending the up and coming IODA World Championships in June. We had 3 somewhat magical days, with temperatures ranging between 22 - 27 degrees and North Westerly sea breezes of 5-15knots.
The sailors worked on developing specific Optimist techniques, with a particular focus on light wind boat handling and downwind sailing. The training group was incredibly focused throughout the three days training, taking onboard a lot of important information for them to go away with. With a little over one month to the Optimist World Championships in Portugal the sailors are motivated to continue their development as they get ready to face off against some of the best junior sailors in the world.
With this in mind, the purpose of the Development clinics is to help provide sailors with an education surrounding racing and training. With many younger sailors involved in the clinic it was excellent to see so much potential. It's exciting to see young sailors develop and make visible progress so quickly, whilst at the same time coming away with smiles on their faces - it's this combination and culture that we're working hard to create! We certainly look forward to continuing our work with the Baltic States.