Monaco Team Racing!

Hi all, sorry I haven't been able to post anything regularly but I will be soon uploading a thank you for the 2014 video so stay tuned for that. I've been doing some national squad training over the winter and was very lucky last weekend to be able to go to the team racing event at Monaco, so here's more about it.

Day 1

Day 1 and we got to see a Ferrari and the Formula 1 track which resulted in a lot of photos and posing! Eventually we found our way down to the yacht club which was a massive glass looking boat which was apparently worth 120 million euros and was donated by the Prince. After a bit of shock from the yacht club we all sorted out our supplied brand new boats! We then headed out to breakfast after once again taking in the sights of Rolls Royce's and super yachts!   Breakfast was very posh and we ate the best croissants in the history of croissants! We then headed back to yacht club for the opening ceremony and briefing before launching.  We had a great first day for the team.  We had a lovely sunny day with a fresh 15knts at midday but the wind unfortunately dropped towards the end of the day. We pretty well dominated the first race scoring a 1,2,3,7 with not much team racing. However we got slightly over confident and we were all over in the next race giving us maximum points. Yet we came back from it and won the next 3 races with some good team racing moves being put into practise. The next race however didn't go our way and we received some unfortunate penalties. But with our great team spirit we were able to pull back another race which resulted in an opponent crying! We were all very pleased with the day and we had a nice evening to top it off, having dinner at a restaurant. We had a quiet and relaxing evening as we were all very tired.

Day 2
The second wasn't the best as there was no wind which unfortunately resulted in 0 races for us today. We were all a bit annoyed in the morning as well as we woke up early! However once we knew that sailing was cancelled for the day we were able to do something with our day. We went ice skating which was a bit different from sailing to say the least and I think the team should stick to sailing! Due to no sailing we were in no rush to do anything so we all had an early night which was shown in our results the next day!

Day 3
Day 3 was an incredible day for the team as we ended up scoring 7 wins out of 8!! We had a sleep in (we had learnt from yesterday!) so we were all very awake and ready for a decent day. We had breakfast at the club which once again provided some amazing croissants! The wind was quite decent (about 12knts) however it was quite gusty as we were sailing in the harbour amongst all the super yachts! It was quite a solid day of racing so we didn't have much time in the evening. However our evening was entertained because dinner was held at the club and there was lots of activities to do included real - life table football! 

Day 4
Heading into the last day we were 3rd overall so we were in with a chance. However we weren't at our best and we lost to Russia in the quarter-finals which meant we were knocked out. Due to this we came 5th overall so we were all very disappointed. What made it even more disappointing as well was the fact that we beat Russia the day before 1,2,3,4 so we felt like we let each other down massively.  To add to our disappointment the team that won overall we beat in the round-robin :( It was still a great event despite the disappointment on the last day. We then had the prize giving before heading off to the airport.

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the event and who helped our team.Id also like to specially thank John Holloway and Simon Cook who made the event possible. It was a great event, a good experience and I would love to go back next year!

 

The Yacht Club

My brand new Charter Boat!

 

The row of super-yachts we passed everyday!

 

Rolls Royce

 

 

 

WOW!!!! BERMUDA is AWESOME :)

The crew

WOW! Bermuda is amazing!!!! The best trip I've ever been on!!! Before I start I would just like to make some thank you's. Thank you to David and Jenny Campbell-James for accompanying me on the flight there and back. Thank you to Dede Cooper for organising the event and making everything AWESOME!! A massive thank you to Mary, Rian, Fiachra and Caoilinn Geraghty for hosting me.  You guys made the trip the best ever!!! And last of all thank you to my Grandparents for their help, my Mum and Dad for doing all the stressing for me and last but not least IOCA UK for selecting me! Now on to Bermuda and the RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup - a day to day description on what happened.  ENJOY!!!



Monday- Flight day

Bye bye Britain

I was originally supposed to fly on Saturday but this was cancelled due to hurricane Gonzales but after much stress for Mum I was booked on the Monday flight. The flight was scheduled to leave at 3:00pm (UK TIME), so me and Dad caught the 10:00am Wightlink ferry. We arrived at the airport at 12am so had a quick lunch before David and Jenny arrived, then the goodbye's were said and we did all the check in and security stuff. Once on the plane we settled in to our seats ready for seven hours of boredom!! The sights were amazing leaving London. On-flight I watched Captain America 2 along with a load of Red Bull videos!! As arrival dawned we again got some amazing views. We arrived at about 7pm (Bermuda time, 11pm in UK) which meant I was very tired. I then met up with my host family (and Christian from Denmark who was staying with them as well) and went back to their house, which was shortly followed by bed. 



Tuesday- Training day
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.

Wednesday- Training and Dinner day

Argo Gold Cup press conference

Wednesday brought some windier training in the morning, however, the day was stopped short due to a possible thunderstorm that might hit us. So instead the Yacht Club took all the international sailors sightseeing to see some caves, but sadly they were closed instead we had a game of football outside the town hall in St George which was closed. When we got back the the Yacht club the local sailors were out sailing, which was only fair as they had been at school all day. Everyone involved with the Junior Gold Cup and Argo Gold Cup had a meal at the Club . It was a great evening as we got to meet some of the pro sailors before doing the Gold Cup. 

Thursday- Racing Day 1
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- Racing Day 2

Me and Caoilinn chillin'

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. 
Even so I went into the next day feeling determined! 

After racing we (my Bermudian family) went to a great restaurant in Hamilton for pizza and had a top night out.

Saturday- Racing Day 3

World's smallest
drawbridge

Saturday was a good day :) Light winds and hot!! I got a good 5th and a 6th before racing was cancelled for the day because the wind went completely, which was a real shame as I would have loved to carry on racing. But not to worry our family had a rib so we went out to see the reef and the shipwreck. The views were amazing, crystal clear water with colourful fish. We then came back in (after seeing turtles). We also saw the world's smallest drawbridge! There was another big party in the Club with Taco's for dinner. We really were very well looked after. Everyone stayed up that night because the briefing was at 11am the next day. So you can guess we had a fun night!!

Sunday- Final Day

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.

After our racing was finished, the family went out on the rib to watch the Gold Cup final. This was followed by the prize giving. My flight was that night so we had to head off early to the airport. 

It was an awesome week and event which is quite hard to put in words but if you are an optimist sailor and ever get the chance to go make sure you do.

Once again I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone. THANK YOU BERMUDA!!!!!   

Bodrum International Regatta - Racing post

Sorry that I haven't told you about my sailing trip to Turkey earlier. As you probably guessed I was very tired. But here it is.

In brief, it was the most awesome experience of my life - great fun, great racing,

amazing to be with so many sailors from so many countries. A great laugh with my GBR team mates and can't wait to do it all again one day. Overall I came 59th out of a fleet of about 300. I was the 5th ranked junior (aged under 12) so a good result as I was one of the youngest there and some of the national teams we were racing against are the teams going to the World Championships

Sailing in Turkey was an incredible experience.  Going to Turkey in itself was amazing never mind the fact that I was there to do the thing I love the most, sailing. It was so hot there. The hottest it reached was a epic 37 degrees however unfortunately I didn't get much of a tan! :( ! At least that meant Mum and Dad were happy as remembering to use sun cream was on the list of Do's I had to take!!!!

The sailing was really awesome, I loved it however I didn't get the best of luck with my charter boat! The charter boat I was given was 16 years old and had a massive hole in the bottom of it. (Thanks coach Matt for getting it sorted though). On the first two days of training we didn't sail due to the wind. On the first day it was 1knt and on the second day it was 40knts. Thankfully though on the third day (day of the practise race) we managed to get a bit of training in.The training was good fun for about an hour then the wind dropped so we had to go back in. After a while of waiting on-shore we eventually went back out on the water with all the other sailors to do a practise race. However the wind dropped to about 2knts so Matt (our Coach) took us out of the race and we headed off shore to find some wind for better training.

Day 1 of racing

Day 1 was a good day of racing for me. The wind was around 9knts which is ideal conditions for me. On the first race I had an amazing start on the pin end and tacked straight away onto the correct shift. After about 3 minutes everybody was on port tack and I was leading the pin end bunch. Unfortunately the people who started at the committee boat side and tacked straight away had more pressure than us. However I gained a bit on the last beat and managed to get a 14th which I was pleased with. However In the next race I had a bad start which resulted in a 36th.

Day 2 of racing

In the first race the average wind was around 6 knots again OK for me. Unfortunately I got a bad start at the committee boat end and had to sail all the way to the right hand side of the course (favoured end) and managed to round the top mark in about 35th. On the run I gained 5 places which I was pleased with. Then on the next beat I gained 7 places by staying on starboard tack for ages and then tacking across on a port shift. I finished in 23 place which I was pleased with. The next race was a much better thanks to my start. I started on the committee end of the start line again and went right leading the pack. After reaching the starboard layline the wind shifted onto starboard tack so I tacked and laid the mark. Unfortunately I lost a few places on the second beat so ended up finishing 12th instead of 9th. The next race was alright, however I started on the wrong end of the startline but gained loads of places on the run and managed to come 17th. So once again another good day for me.

Day 3 of racing

On the first race I sailed really well tacking on all the correct shifts and winning the correct side. After a bad second beat I ended up finishing 17th which I was disappointed with. The next race went a bit better however once again I lost places on the second beat. I ended up finishing 16th. After the end of that race the wind picked up dramatically from 7knts to 22knts in a few seconds! Unfortunately on the last race I didn't do too well as it wasn't my winds. I finished a disappointing 42nd which ended up being my discard.

Overall I came a 59th out of nearly 300 sailors. I was very pleased with that result. I would like to thank Matt and Holly and the rest of my team for making it one of best times of my life.

Easter Holiday's - Optimist & Pico Sailing and More

I have had a really busy Easter doing loads of Optimist sailing and other water activities.

It started off on the first Sunday of the holidays, at my local sailing club, Royal Victoria Yacht Club.  It was the open race of the season, the Commodore's Cup. We had a mixed fleet start so I was up against Squibs, Lasers, RS's on the start line which was fun. I was one of the first boats off the start so all the winter training must be paying off. The Optimists had a different course from everyone else. I won the racing by a country mile,  despite getting the course wrong at one point, which secured me a Trophy!!

From Monday through to Friday I was at UKSA, a watersports activity centre in Cowes, with a bunch of my friends doing lots of activities such as: sailing, kayacking, raft building, Easter Egg hunts etc. It was great fun. Obviously I enjoyed the sailing the most but it was great to be out on the water doing other stuff as well!!

Crossing the finish line to win

On Sunday, I went down to Gurnard Sailing club for some Pico racing with my friend Lily. I was her guest helm for the day as she wanted to get her revenge on her brother who had beaten her the week before. AND we definately did that. We beat all the other Picos on the water including some adults with racing mainsails and we won the slow handicap class!!! It was fun to be racing a different type of boat and to go sailing with someone else. HAPPY TIMES!

The winning team with matching drysuits 

Me and Lily being briefed by Lily's Dad

On Wednesday I started some Oppie training at Gurnard with all my friends which finishes on Friday and then I'm straight into more sailing in Lymington! HECTIC!!!!


On Wednesday my little sister Freya had her first go at sailing in her (my old) Optimist on her own for the first time. She was really good. Holding the tiller properly, sitting on the side of the boat and everything. I was really proud of her and pleased to see her out on the water. I hope she loves sailing as much as I do.

Freya winning!

Awesome Optimist sailing from Freya

Great technique

One other good bit of news, We've ordered my brand new North Sail which should arrive soon. I can't wait to get it. I'll have it in time for the Selection trials in Weymouth which is my next big event.