Following on from a brilliant summer of sailing, the Autumn is shaping up to be pretty solid too. In September, I've done training in the Summer Squad, the Spinnaker Open, Bart's Bash and the RYA South Zone Championships.
First up, the Summer Squad training. This was a weekender at Lymington and a super light wind one. On the Saturday we mostly worked on boat handling and light wind speed with a few short races in the afternoon.
Saturday night we stayed at my Grandparents with BBQ ribs and chips for tea, yum. This also meant we didn't have to get up super early and I got pancakes for breakfast! More yum!
On Sunday we did quite a lot of team racing. We wanted to race as the Euro Team Racing Team but we were split up but I did have Sophie in my team and we won all our races - the dream team! Despite the light winds it was a good weekend and really great to see loads of my friends who I hadn't seen since the Nationals.
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| Me with the silverware! |
Next up was the Spinnaker open. I was a bit of a last minute entry to this as we decided to go so we could help Arthur who sails at my club and his Mum who were going to their first ever event. It certainly turned out to be a good one for me. It was another light wind weekend and as, always at Spinnaker, really shifty. The starts were epic, with over 50 boats on a really short line, loads of shouting, boats going everywhere. In total we did four races and I got a 1st, 2nd and two 3rds.
I finished up with 6 points and was the overall winner and the top junior sailing. It's the first time I've won a regatta in a while so I was really pleased. Great prizes too. A new windex, Spinnaker SC glass, a copy of the Optimist Photo book and two trophies. The overall trophy has some great names on it including Greg Carey, Nick Thompson, Phil Sparks and of course Milo Gill Taylor. Thanks to everyone at Spinnaker for running the regatta.
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| Tongue out with concentration!! |
The next weekend it was Bart's Bash. On the Saturday I went Oppie sailing with Oliver Evans and Freddie Ellis to do a bit of practising with our V4 North Sails and speed work then in the afternoon we went Feva sailing as me and Oliver sailed the Feva in the Bart's Bash race. We thought some practice would be a good idea as I've never helmed with an asymmetric kite before. Guess what it was really light winds again so all pretty straightforward!
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| Upright and in control downwind!! |
Sunday morning for Bart's Bash it was a bit of a different story as the wind was blowing about 15kts and conditions were a bit choppy in parts of the course. With the conditions we had our hands full as we are both small and light, way too much so for a Feva XL. Add to that 100 boats on a shared start line ranking from pico's and toppers to foiling moths and it was game on!
The race lasted for 70 minutes and we did four laps. We did have three capsizes one with the spinnaker up so our overall time wasn't that flash but we completed the race flew the spinnaker on every lap and had a blast, which was the main thing. It was such a good laugh and brilliant race to be in!
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| A nice tack! |
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| A flat boat (a rare experience)! |
Last weekend it was the RYA South Zone Championships at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy.
There was a big turn out of Optimists with 93 in total. Again, you've guessed it, it was a really light wind weekend! On Saturday afternoon we had two races and a lot of waiting around as we were sharing the course with the Fevas and Mirrors. I had a good start with a 2nd in the first race and a 4th in the second, although I really should have won the first one as I was in the lead going in to the final leg, but still finished the day in second overall.
Saturday night's dinner was fish and chip dinner (well sausage and chips for me) with Freddie and Cordelia and a bit of table tennis. Apparently according to Dad I should stick to sailing as table tennis isn't my sport!
On Sunday I felt like I had a good chance to win the event as Vita Heathcote, who was in first place, wasn't sailing the second day. On Sunday we did three races and like Saturday it was a day for sailing up the middle of the course, minimising risk and watching for the shifts and pressure. We did three races and I had two 2nds and a 3rd, but unfortunately it wasn't quite good enough as Henry Chandler who sailed really well got three 1st places. It was really close especially going into the last race where I still had a chance of winning but in the end Henry won with 6 points and I was second with 9. Although coming second was a good result I was pretty disappointed and annoyed with myself as I should have won two races that I was leading but got overtaken. I get a bit nervous when I'm out in front and am probably not making the right decisions so that is something I definitely need to work on.
So It's been a full on September and in the middle of it all we got a call to say I've been selected to go the RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup in Bermuda from 21-26 October How awesome is that. I'm so lucky to be going and can't wait. But before then we have the End of Season championships in Rutland which is the final ranking event of the year!
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| Some downwind practise in Light Winds |
After a lovely sleep I was up by 7am ready to leave by 8am. It was a very rushed morning as I had to sort all my sailing kit for the day which happened to be at the bottom of my suitcase!! We dropped off Rian, Fiachra and Caoilinn at school before me and Christian went down the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. It did feel a bit tough leaving the others at school while we went sailing!! I then did all my sorting out of the boat before all the internationally invited sailors (14 of us in total) headed out for some training. We did some boat speed work along with venue familiarisation oh and getting used to sailing in warm weather wearing only shorts and a rash vest!! Later on we were then joined by the local Bermudian sailors and did some practice starting with them. After sailing we then went to the beach. It was was lovely with massive waves that we had a great time playing in.
It was a slow start as we had a bit of a windy storm which resulted in a postponement of 3 hours. Luckily the wind dropped by lunchtime so we got two good races in light to medium winds. I got a 10th and a 6th which was OK, however, I felt I could have done better and my mistakes were clear. After racing I had a chat with Iain Percy, which was really nice. It felt awesome to be chatting about the days sailing and results with one of the best sailors in the world. That night was an early to sleep one because the next day was going to be windy.
Friday was one hectic day!! 5 races in 17-20 knts! I got a 6th, 17th,9th,13th and 15th. This set of results was again OK but I dropped a few places overall. The 17th and the 15th were especially disappointing because I made some simple mistakes that dropped me the places and with the fleet being so good any mistake you made quickly cost places. But as it was such a windy day and with most of the other international sailors being a lot bigger and older than me overall I did a lot better in the breeze than I have before. 
A very relaxed morning lead to a very relaxed day. We headed down to the Yacht Club at about 10am. The tradition is 1 race in the harbour in front of a big crowd followed by watching the final of the Argo Group Gold Cup. The race was very tricky because the shifty winds and the mixed water form spectator boats. I had an amazing start, only to pick the wrong side of the course and went round the first windward mark 10th from last! Not ideal in front of a crowd! However I did a good recovery job to get a 7th which meant I finished 6th place overall. Given the level of competition from the international and local sailors I was really pleased with my final result. I just hope I get the chance to go back to Bermuda one day and do even better.
