I'm going to the World Championships 2017

I haven't done a blog about the Selections for a while due to the fact I haven't done well for ages! This was mainly due to pressure. But for once I was able to deal with the pressure.Why? Perhaps because after my recent outings in a 420 with William Heathcote I have realized that there is life outside of oppies! I found out that my sailing career isn't over if I don't get Worlds team! Anyway, going into this selection trials I was in a much better place. 

Very happy after getting Worlds team with the Musto kit

We stayed in a house with the Hook's and the Woodley's which was really nice as it meant we could have proper dinners, a washing machine to dry our kit and a really nice, friendly, relaxing atmosphere.

The first day of the selections is usually always the worst because everyone is so nervous, however for some weird reason this year everyone seemed so chilled. I managed to get a 14,2,9 which was a solid day for me considering it was light winds. I sat in 6th place overnight which was quite a good position to be in as I had some little people (well smaller than me!) in front of me who would possibly struggle when the wind picked up as forecast. I had a chilled night, watched a movie and for once (at a selection trials) felt relaxed. 

Day 2 we sailed out in the bay in some tricky conditions ranging from 8 to 20 knots. In the varying winds I really stuck to my processes and got a solid 13,5,3,3 which boosted me up to 2nd in the leader board. For me the hardest part about the regatta was not getting cocky and thinking I had it in the bag. I still had to sail a good regatta for another two days in order to keep the Worlds team place. 

My goal for day 3 was to just get the processes right and control the things I could control. I had a bad first race because I had a dreadful start. I was about 40th round the last mark but managed to pull it back to 25th because I kept calm. The next race it all came together and I managed to get a 2nd under some pretty pressurized situations. The final race of the day I got a solid 13th but was annoyed because I had dropped some places. Overall I dropped a place after that day because my good friend Callum Davidson-Guild sailed a blinder of a day.

Selections celebration time

Not gonna lie- I was BRICKING IT going into the last day. I didn't know how much of a point buffer I had on Jamie Cook behind me as I hadn't really been looking at the results, so I was so nervous I would lose my place. Thankfully though there was no racing because of a weird front passing through. This meant I got Worlds team!!!! (after racing I found out I had a 52 points gap!)

The World Championships this year are held in Pattaya, Thailand at the Royal Varuna Yacht club. I am so excited!! My goal since I started sailing has been to get the Worlds so I am over the moon. I would like to say a massive thanks to Musto and Mum and Dad. And a even bigger thank you to my grandparents Nan Nan and GD for paying for the whole Trip!!

I've just had the Inlands, which to be honest I did pretty pants in. It might have been down to the fact that I wasn't feeling well after my jabs for Thailand or that I just sailed a terrible regatta. Who knows.  My sister, Freya beat me in a race as well!! Never going to live that one down!! But it's great to see her sailing getting so much better and competitive and up with some of the best sailors in the fleet.