Back in 2005 when my daughter Emma was 12 years old I was looking for a boat so we could sail together. I was racing my Laser and Emma was at that stage still racing her Optimist. I thought that it would be good for her to understand the finer points of racing and a chance for us to sail together.
I looked at the classes we had at Chipstead and decided to go for a GRP Sprinter Graduate, which was being sold within the club. The Grad was ideal as it is a great double handed boat which can be easily handled both on and off the water as it only weighs about 85kgs. We are also lucky enough to have a really strong fleet with up to 25 Graduates racing on Sunday afternoons throughout the season.
Throughout the next few years we were getting further up the fleet but my Sprinter was never going to win much.
At the end of 2009 I decided that I would get a newer Grad and bought Rooster Grad 3000, which Steve had used to win the 2009 Graduate Nationals at Chipstead SC.
Since I bought Grad 3000 our sailing has got much better and is a real enjoyment to sail, also our results have considerably improved!
