A new 420 Coaches and Sailors Clinic started today in Sattahip, Thailand, organized by the International 420 Class Association, with the support of the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand.

This is the first clinic to be run after the lockdown and the Covid restrictions all over the world. Previous clinics before the world’s health crises took place in Colombia and Ecuador, on March 2020.

Even taking some health risks, it was very important for the I420 Class Association to come to Asia and restart this development plan. We had also set the dates to run a clinic just after this one in Hong Kong but we were not allowed to come there due to the restrictions. Just on the last days of next December, we will put in practice two more development actions: following the clinics, we are supporting the entries of a team from Colombia and another team from Ecuador on the World Sailing Youth World Championship in Oman, and besides that, we are sending a coach to support all the 420 fleet in general and in particular this South American teams.

Regarding the clinic in Thailand that, as we said before, started today and will run until Sunday 21st, there is an attendance of 21 sailors and 7 coaches from various Thai clubs. The Class President, José Massapina (POR) opened the clinic in a small ceremony with the presence of the President of the Thai Federation and with the translation for Thai or English language by the local supporter and organizer, Chartchai Krittanai and by Nar Klomsiri from the Thai Federation. After that, José Massapina did an institutional presentation about the 420 and the Class Association and showed a promotional video. To finalize, Massapina presented to the sailors and coaches the Class website, showing them where to find the development tools like the videos “420 To The Max”, “Online Book of Exercises” and the “Tuning Video”. He profited the moment to show where to find the Class Rules and how to analyze them.

After this theoretical moment on the classroom, the Class President and responsible for the development and promotion, passed the word to the head coach Nikos Drougkas (GRE). Following the programme, there was a small session about boat preparation and boat handling and then the group went to the boat park for a practical session about tacks and trapeze.

After a light lunch, the group went afloat to put in practice some tacking exercises that went very well, with a very light wind. Next report will be tomorrow with the second day of the clinic.

Photo gallery here.