From summer to sailing in a storm

OK it's been a while since I've done a post on here but I've being doing loads of sailing since the last one so this covers lots from summer through to November storms (which you can watch here). (Check out my sister's vid at the end too)

First off was the the new late summer championships held at Draycote. It was my my first big event after recovering from my broken collarbone, a new event in a venue I hadn't been to and a ranking event. So a bit of pressure. It was a tricky event because the winds were so light and from a rubbish direction for the reservoir. Each race was a case of pick your side and make sure you win your side to get a result. At the end of the weekend I was 9th or 6th depending on how you viewed the protested finale race. Enough said about that! Weeks later it was eventually a 6th!! Despite the hassle of the last race I had a really weekend catching up with my mates and getting back into some serious sailing even though Draycote just so happens to be the most shifty venue ever! 

Even though I was getting some good results in the conditions I did feel I was missing out on something and could be finishing higher up. Thinking about the event afterwards, I realised my problem was I was being reactive in my thinking rather than being proactive. Very annoying but at least I know what to work on this winter. 

One good thing about sailing at Draycote was that I was able to go see my Nan who we don't see so much as she lives in Coventry, so I sort of hope we have another event up there.


After Draycote we had a summer squad training weekend in Cardiff. Despite light winds the training was really useful and we did Bart's Bash on the Sunday. We stayed with Jamie Cook and his family, who had loads of people round on Saturday evening so the whole weekend was great fun.

Next was the RYA South and South West combined Zone Championships at Weymouth. It's a funny event because all the sailors who are moving up from the regatta fleet and trying for the zone squads compete. It means you get followed a lot and there's loads of separation in the fleet. I remember when I first did the event it was really scary being with the main fleet sailors so I know what it was like for them. Overall I came fourth which is always a tough place to finish. That weekend we stayed in the scariest B&B place in Weymouth - there was blood on our room door and fighting outside!!! And England got beaten by Wales in the rugby. At least the sailing was good!!

The End of Season Championships was next back in Weymouth. This was our third ranking event for the winter squads. With two good results already, it meant I could go out at really enjoying the racing without having to worry about the results so much. It was a pretty breezy weekend and I got off to a slow start with a 10,11,13 on the first day but the second day was much better with 5,4,2 so I finished 7th. The Sunday was one of those great days racing where everything just flows and works. 

It meant that I had two 6th places counting for the rankings so I am 6th overall and back in the National Squad.

We had the first national squad training camp from Saturday - Tuesday of half term and I had to use my old boat, which my sister Freya now sails as mine was on its way to Bordeaux! Then on the Wednesday I flew to Bordeaux with Mani (Heathcote) and his Mum to meet up with the rest of his family to compete in a regatta there.

It was great fun. As well as the opi's a load of the 420 sailors were racing too. The conditions were tricky as the event was on this massive lake and the winds were quite light but really gusty. Overall I came 11th which I was quite pleased with as the French national squad were there. I would have done better but I didn't get a result for the first race as all the Brits sailed in the wrong race! Well the French instructions were a bit confusing. As well as the sailing we had so much fun cycling, playing in the Atlantic surf and water fights with the French. Thank you so much to George and Kate for taking me and for everyone looking after me.

As well as all the opi sailing I also competed in the RYA Eric Twiname Team racing championship. Our team was Sophie Holloway, Rhys Lewis, Will Hall, Alex Schonrock, Oliver Hill and me. We competed in the youth event in fireflies against much older sailors which was really hard. We finished 2nd in the silver fleet but were one of the few teams to beat the overall winners. It was really good team racing. Not sure I'll rush out to buy a firefly though!

Along with all the events and national squad training I've also been training at Lymington. We've had a couple of really windy sessions sailing in the storms. I think its some of the fastest sailing I've ever done. Awesome! And last weekend I had my first proper go sailing a 420 with Mani. There is so much to learn and so much more to do than there is in the Opi. But its brilliant, so much faster. Thanks again to the Heathcote family for taking me and looking after me. I forgot to mention too about the  awesome four days I had at the end of the summer holidays staying with Mani and doing loads of Opi sailing.



It's not just me whose been sailing. My sister Freya has done loads too. She raced at Lymington, Hayling Island, Chichester, Zone Champs, End of Season and her results are getting better each time. She's also been training at Spinnaker and Lymington having lots of fun in the stormy weather as you can see.

WOW! Solid September!!

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.

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.

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!

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! 

A nice tack!

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!

Some downwind practise in Light Winds

Four weekends of great sailing

I've had a really busy time since my last blog post with four weekends in a row of sailing which has mostly been amazing. To summarise it's been:

• The RYA South Zone Championships - 15th
• Boys invitational training - one of the best training events ever
• Volvo Gill End of Season Championship - 28th
• Volvo Gill End of Season Championship - our team came 3rd

RYA South Zone Championships

These were in Poole and it seems like quite a long time ago now. There were quite a lot of the good sailors from our zone there and we had 80 boats in the fleet in total. As I wasn't going for the zone squads this year it meant I could use the event for practising techniques rather than having to worry about the result so much. Still once I'm racing I always want to do as well as possible and win. I had on OK event but not quite as good as I would have liked. I finished in 15th place overall which I was a bit disappointed with however in the same event last year I finished 21st so it's still an improvement

Boys invitational training

This was at Burghfield Sailng Club with the national squad coach, Alan Williams. He is awesome. It was some of the best coaching sessions I've ever had. For the whole weekend there was hardly any wind but it didn't really matter as we still got loads of sailing in and were able practice techniques loads and as it wasn't windy it was really easy to hear what the coaches were saying. I really learnt a lot more about my tacking and boat handling. During the training we did a series of races which I won and was given one of Alan's sailing belts as a prize, which as he said will fit me one day!!

End of Season Championships

This was the first time I've done the End of Seasons where the result counts towards the rankings and getting into the squads so I was a bit nervous and scared of mucking it up. 

Waiting to launch at the End Of Seasons

There were over 200 sailors taking part and we were in four flights with two flights to each race so over 100 boats on the start line. 

 On Saturday while we were rigging it was quite windy but as soon as we launched the wind disappeared and we had a long wait to start racing and had to completely change the set up of the boat on the water. Hanging around for ages isn't too bad as I like talking to my friends out on the water. We had two races on Saturday in really light shifty winds and I got a 9th and 23rd. 

On Sunday morning it was really windy but we went off early to get four races in. The first race was epic, loads of people capsizing and really fast reaching. I came 37th which was OK in the conditions. The wind was a bit up and down after that.  I had two good races and two with pretty bad starts. In the last race I was one of the last to cross the line but was able to sail though the fleet to finish 27th so I was pleased with my boat speed and tactics so just need to practice my starts over winter training. With a 9th and 10th in the other races overall I finished 28th.

National Squad

So what does this mean to the rolling rankings? I am now ranked 11th of all the optimist sailors and means I've been selected for the National Squad. The squad is made up of the top 6 girls top 6 boys, the next 10 sailors and two discretionary places. Being in the National squad is awesome and it was my aim for the year so I am very very happy.

RYA Eric Twiname Team Racing Championship

Me and Max

This was epic, 10/10 on the awesometer. I've never really done any team racing before apart from a little bit in Optimist training and this was in RS Fevas so sailing really competitively in a two handed boat as crew was quite new for me too. 

I was part of Team Heathcote (a Royal Lymington YC team) with Robbie and Alex King, Max Moyles, Vita and William Heathcote. I was crewing for Max who now sails a 420. He's a brilliant helm and really good at the rules and boat handling. I learnt loads from him over the weekend. 

The racing was over two days. On Saturday we won all our races but one which was brilliant. On Sunday it was quite windy which made it tricky for us as quite a light weight team. We lost the first couple of races but won the next four which put us into the gold fleet in third place. We then went into the quarter finals which we were winning but a massive storm came through and it became more of a team survival than team racing. The racing was abandoned for the day but the sailing in the Fevas when it was really windy was so much fun. I have never gone so fast in a dinghy on a reach before. It was all a bit chaotic trying to get back ashore though. 

Team Heathcote waiting to race

With racing abandoned we kept our third place and got presented with an engraved glass at prize giving so another one for my collection.

As I've been sailing on the mainland so much lately we having been staying at my grandparents lots, so a big shout out to them for looking after us and the lovely dinners.

Next up is the first National Squad training camp which is a four day residential in Weymouth. I can't wait.