The World Champs 2017 - what an amazing experience

What an experience!! The World Champs was amazing!!! An experience I will keep for life. Fun racing, hot and friendships. What more could you want?

The squad

It all started off on a very boring 18 hour air trip but it was well worth it. I remember stepping outside in Thailand for the first time. There had just been a rain storm (first of many to come) so when we stepped outside it felt like the hot air was trying to knock us back into the minibus. The heat was crazy!!! 

The hotel was amazing. I was in this massive room with Jamie Cook and Will Pank. There was a balcony, mini fridge (very useful), mini freezer, separate bath and shower and a butt hose!! The hotel had amazing pools which were all connected. Perfect to slowly drift around in for post racing chilling.

Our first day was a rest day. We had a nice lie in and went to visit some cultural stuff like a big Buddha. We then went swimming and chilled out.

The big Buddha

Views

The training days

We had three days of pre-event training to help us to familiarise with the venue. I've never really understood the importance of pre-event training before, so going into the training I was a bit sceptical. However it turned out to be very important.

For the first day we did some individual work like checking over our rigs and boats and just getting into the groove of optimist sailing in the sea of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club. On the second day we raced against other countries (Canada, Finland, Australia,Netherlands). This was useful as we could see just how important the tide was. The tide was so strong that at one point Mathias Capizzano, the event photographer, had to move the mark for us just so that we could get around. The third day consisted of a short morning session sailing before a storm blew in and then boring measurement, which actually for once didn't take too long. 

The hotel!

Wednesday consisted of an unplanned rest day because the plan was to go out for a morning training session then do the practise race afterwards. However wind wasn't in our favour so we spent all morning waiting on shore and then did a very tedious light wind practise race.  We then had a nice rest and prepared for the 1st racing day!

The racing days

The first day of racing was weird? I was shaking on the start line but managed a gnarly start and found myself in the top 10. But a bad second beat resulted in a 23. After first race blues I got into my stride and sailed a solid race getting an 11th. After the first day my thought was that it was easier than I expected. The second day was my best day getting a 7th and a 17th. I believe I got these results because I was less nervous. The final day of the qualifying series was pretty pants for me and the whole team in general. It was one of those days where on the sail back in you just say to yourself; "what was I doing?". However I still made gold fleet being in 52nd place overall so all's good!

Ready to race with Musto

Next on the agenda was 1 or 2 days of team racing. The structure is every team sails on the first day. If you lose two in a row you are out of the competition. If you win 3 in a row you are through to the 2nd day. If you win,lose,win,lose you go into a pool based on points where one team comes out. If you lose,win,lose,win you are through. Got it!!! We managed to get through by winning 3 in a row. However the day wasn't good for me because I had to come in after 1 race because of sea sickness and sun stroke. Luckily though Kieran Young came in for me and did a superb job. The second day consisted of a round of 16, quarter finals,semi finals and the final. As an underdog team I feel proud to say we got through to the quarter finals! We fell out to China who went on to come 2nd so overall the team sailed very well considering we hadn't practised much and we all loved every second of it. Also the bonus was we had the afternoon off. All's well that end's well!

Pretty much a celebrity

Now the fleet racing was about to get serious. Gold fleet. DUN DUN DUNNNN!! The trick for me was about just thinking about the big picture. Theoretically I should have come 52 every race so any place higher is a bonus. I cannot describe how much of a buzz you get when you are sailing around with the best 70 odd sailors in the world! A surreal experience and definitely one I will not forget for a long time coming! I got a 47,59 and 25th which looks rubbish on paper but is actually ok. The final day of racing was abandoned due to lack of wind. I threw up again. And that was it. The Optimist World Championships 2017 done and dusted and I came 52. I would like to thank Sarah McGovern (Coach), Kat Colvin (Team Leader) they were awesome, all the parents and my grandparents for making the trip possible, IOCA UK for their support and organisation. And Musto for my brilliant kit. 

This is how the team got on :

Will Pank= Gold fleet 19th

Haydn Sewell=Gold fleet 52th

Callum Davidson Guild= Silver fleet 8th

Kieran Young= Silver fleet 67th

Jamie Cook= Bronze fleet 37th

My time in oppies is almost up just one event left. The British Nationals next week. I'm sure I will see some of you there!!

On last thing - check out Kat's video from the event
 

Heading off to the Optimist World Championships

So the time has come!! I leave for the Optimist World Championships in Thailand on Thursday and I am absolutely buzzing.

My realistic aim for the event is to get into gold fleet but obviously I would love to win it. You never know if the right, prepared Haydn Sewell turns up anything could happen. I have mixed feelings for the event- a crossover between excited and nervous. To be fair who wouldn't be nervous when you are racing against 280 of the best optimist sailors from 64 countries from around the world (biggest Worlds there has ever been). But excited because this might well be one of the best experiences of my life and I will get to meet some old friends I've met at sailing events in other countries and make loads of new ones.

We arrive in Thailand on Friday and have a rest day to get over the flight. We get our hands on our charter boats on Saturday then it's training for a few days to get used to the local conditions. The Opening ceremony is on Wednesday 12 July and the racing starts the next day through to Thursday 20 July. In the middle of the event there's a couple of days of team racing too. Then we fly back on 21 July which is my birthday. So loads of sailing to be done over the next couple of weeks.

The event is hosted at the Royal Varuna Yacht club in Pattaya (near Bangkok). We're staying at a 5 star resort. I can't even describe how nice it is, but you can take a look here if you like! (Enjoy the music!!!)  Average temperature is 27-30 degrees with a 28 degrees sea temperature and light to medium winds. If all else fails at least I will get a nice tan!
I've got all my new Musto Thermo cool and Thermo light kit ready and can't wait to use it as you don't get many chances over here.

There should be live tracking on the website if you want to watch but it's a bit boring watching lots of coloured dots move slowly about your screen. You can find out all about the event and follow the results at the event website and on their facebook page 

Now I just can't wait to get out there, get sailing and have a great experience. 

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.