A BUSY 2019!

WOW! What a busy year it has been! I've had many events, lots of training and endless amounts of happiness. This blog is just a summary of my hectic year and what it entailed! But before that, I'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone that has supported by campaign. This includes Musto for providing me with awesome, comfy kit for whatever climate I was in, British Youth Sailing, the RYA and the British 420 class for support and providing me with my excellent coaches Jonny Mcgovern and Neil Marsden. I'd also like to say a massive thanks to my family and especially my grandparents for supporting me (and paying for me) towards my lifetime goal. And the biggest thank you to my crew William Heathcote because without him none of this would have happened! So, my 2019!!

My beginning of 2019 started with a lot of training towards the spring selection series which would decide the worlds team, euros team and the Youth Worlds team. This was aided by my place in the 2018/19 RYA Youth Squad. The selection series consisted of the Spring Championships, Inland Championships and the RYA Youth Nationals. We sailed averagely for the first two events but we knew we could do better going into the RYA Youth Nationals. It turned out to be a weird event with 3 days without sailing however we managed to put on our best performance and took the win which was awesome and our first proper achievement in the 420! This meant we had qualified for all 3 teams meaning the summer of our lives was looming!

But before that summer we had lots of boring school work and gym work as Will took his GCSE's and I studied hard for my a levels. But before we knew it we were packing our bags for the first destination of our summer- Portugal. This was for the 420 worlds which was the biggest event we had sailed in so far. After many days of training with new sails and a fast boat we felt ready and started with a bang ending the qualification round in 4th overall which was super cool. However, as the wind dropped and the competition hardened we started to struggle ending the event in still an awesome 15th. We were still super happy with the event and found lots to work on however we had little time to reflect because within 2 hours of getting ashore on the last day we were on our way to Poland for the Youth World Championships.

The Youth Worlds is seen as the most prestigious event for youth sailors in the world and we were excited to just be competing. Lining up against the best team from each country is always a daunting task but we felt excited and fast and chucked everything at it. In the end, after a week of tough racing we finished an agonising 4th place losing the chance to medal by one point. But this was an amazing result for us and so far the best result I have ever had in my life of competitive sailing. This was the best British 420 boy result in 10 years so a big celebration was worthy before hoping on a flight to Spain for the 3rd consecutive major event in a row! 

Spain hosted the 2019 Junior European Championships and although we had high expectations for ourselves we were let down by our bodies as we simply crashed after so much sailing. Nevertheless we were super happy with our Summer and felt proud to put our name on the world stage. Now for some time off!

But not too much time off! 3 weeks later we headed down to Hayling Island for the British 420 Nationals which is always a fun event and a great way to spend time with your friends. We finished as 1st U18 boys overall which we were happy with after 4 days of very little wind. Then we changed ship and hoped onto a 470 for the UK 470 Nationals which was great fun and very challenging but a great experience. 

The summer flew past way too quick and before we knew it the college bells rang again. At least it's my last year! The Autumn qualification series quickly sprung upon us consisting of two events; the autumn championships and the winter championships. We managed to take both 1st and 2nd respectively resulting in us winning the qualification series. This solidified our selection for the 2019/20 RYA Youth Squad. Then it was back to school for a bit before heading off to France for the French Armistice event. 

France (in the October half term) bought some much needed sun and training. We had surprisingly breezy conditions and after a week of improving race by race we managed to grab 2nd overall winning the last 3 races- an awesome feeling. We set ourselves some big training goals for that regatta and we managed to hit the goals along with getting a solid result in a strong 70 boat fleet. 


It was then back to the UK for some training and more school work before heading off to our final event of the year in sunny Palamos for the Palamos Christmas race. We went into this event with the goal of bettering last years performance of 10, but we knew in a strong Spanish, French and Italian fleet this was going to be difficult. We allowed ourselves plenty of time to train so when racing came around and we were hit with 2 days of 20 knots plus and massive waves- we were ready. We relished the conditions and fought our way through boat breakages and managed to come away with a 4th place which we were super stoked with. However, we felt we left in a bit in the tank and could have done better after some silly mistakes, so once again more training goals. 

Looking forward to 2020, William and I are entering our final full year in the 420 before moving onto bigger and faster boats. We have lots already in the calendar, and lots more dates to put in but our main aim is to win the 2020 420 World Championships. This is going to require lots of hard work both on the water and on land but we are ready to what  needs to be done. Oh, I also have to do my A levels as well! So another busy year is on the horizon and I can't wait to start it. Once again thanks to everyone who has supported me and who is continuing to support me. Here's to a great 2020 together! 

Summer Pt2- Youth Worlds and Junior Europeans

Part 2 of my summer started in an airport in the south of Portugal. After the great event that was the 420 World Championships we immediately hopped onto a taxi to the airport. The 420 Team GBR representatives, that were William and I along with Ellie Keers and Faye Chatterton and our coach Jonny Mcgovern were on our way to Poland for the Youth World Championships. We were excited to say the least as we travelled to what would be the most important and prestigious event we have all ever competed in. We flew to Stanstead Airport in the UK where we had an overnight wait in the nearby hotel to fly out early the next morning with the rest of Team GBR consisting of 2 laser sailors, 2 29er teams, 2 windsurfers and a Nacra pairing. 

The team 

After arriving, we had a team lunch before heading  down to the club. World sailing put a lot of effort into the boat park and it looked very cool. There were huge screens displaying results and live updates along with electronic tallies and free coffee, which I made full use of! Due to the strict regulations to make the event fair we had a limited amount of time to train before the event. 

On the Saturday we headed down early to the boat park to rig the boat up. The boat and sails etc are all provided to keep the event fair. We had just used the Zaoli Sails provided at the Worlds, so we felt confident with the setting, however the Nautivela hull took some getting used to. We had to rig as a 4 as there is only one 420 per nation, which proved more challenging than expected as we all had our different says on how things should be done. We were allowed 2 hours on the water between us so we split it in two and had a brief training session each. Launching was a challenge as the event had built a makeshift pontoon however this ended up almost sinking due to the amount of boats on it adding to the fun. Our first sail out was very important just to get a feel for the boat and the venue. After a few boat repairs that evening we felt happier with the boat. We stayed in a big hotel, which every single sailor stayed in making it a great event to meet new friends over dinner or the table tennis table. Dinner was a huge buffet with endless options which was delicious. Sunday was practise race day- a great opportunity to tune against the other sailors and work out the race committee. And also get used to the weird format with either sailing in the morning or the afternoon and having to swap with the girls. After a productive day we had an early night sleep ready for race day 1. Nervous was understatement that night.

Day 1 started off light with a postponement just adding to the tension in the boat park. After a delay we eventually got racing in a light breeze of around 5 knots. We were nervous as these aren't our favourite conditions but we just kept our head down and made sure we completed our pre start routine and did everything we usually do. We had a solid start and followed our plan and managed to grab a 7th which helped settle our nerves down. Race 2 saw us claim a 6th so a solid day 1 keeping us very well in contention. 

Day 2 bought a breezier 8-14 knots which helped us and we were able to grab another 6th
 and then a 1st! We led round the first windward mark after a great start and solid strategy and then had a intense battle with the Spanish (the 2019 World Champs!) catching us up the whole race. It all came down to the final two gybes. The spanish were soaking over the top of us and ended up infront of us about 10 boat lengths away from the reach mark to the finish. We had had this situation in a training race earlier this year and messed it up so Will just turned round to me and said remember that training race lets just pretend its like that again. And so we did and as they gybed we gybed on top of them and then managed to gybe round them at the bottom mark and just sneak infront of them at the finish grabbing us the first. A very proud moment. So far a solid event putting us in 3rd overall giving us the bronze bib. 


Day 3 was the windiest day of 14+ knots. Surprisingly this ended up being our worst day as we struggled with our decision making upwind. Day 4 was super light with a long postponment but we managed to squeeze in another two races pulling us back up to 5th and still in contention. 

The final day was a one race day meaning everything was on the line. We were sat in 5th but could go up to 2nd and go down to 8th as the points were so tight. On the sail out we made the team decision to play the risky race because we hadn't come all this way to play it safe. We ended up actually having quite a bad start with our rivals having good starts but we sailed the quickest we have ever sailed in 5 knots and managed to sail straight through the fleet rounding the windward mark in 1st. However a poor downwind let us slip to 5th in the race and we held that position till the end. It was all looking good up until the final reach to the finish when the Israelis managed to pull back one boat meaning they beat us overall by one point denying us of a medal. 

Scary looking behind and seeing the 2019 and 2018 World Champs

Despite finishing 4th overall by one point we were super happy with the result as it was the best we have ever sailed and is a great feeling being 4th Youth in the world. It's also a huge learning lesson as it just proves how much every point counts in a race. Overall a super successful event and was so much fun and a great experience. Next time a medal though! 

Before we knew it we were on a plane to Spain for the 420 Junior Europeans our 3rd and final event of the summer. The event was in a weird lake like place with super hot light winds. We started off well but after a few bad races it all went downhill resulting in a poor performance. This probably wasn't helped by how tired we were physically and mentally after nearly 40 days straight sailing. 


Despite this, It was the best summer to date and a once in a lifetime experience and we have definitely improved our 420 sailing! I'd like to thank all my coaches, Musto and Will my crew for making everything happen. Also huge thanks to my parents and my grandparents for making it all possible!  

Shiny looking foredeck

Summer Pt1 - 420 World Championships

WOW! What a crazy summer its been. Its been so long I've had to split it into 3 parts so here is part 1.

My summer started on June 14th in Lymington when I headed down to my crews house for a week of boat work. He had just finished his final GCSE so it was a happy positive week. This was the final week our boat was in the UK until August so we made sure the boat was in perfect condition ready for a lot of high quality racing! After this we headed down to Weymouth for our final training session with the team. We felt fast and prepared so all positives so far! 

From here it was up to London to catch a flight to sunny Portugal. We headed out a few days before the majority of the team to give us some more time to familiarise ourselves with the racecourse and also Vilamoura itself as I find it important to feel comfortable  where I am. In preparation for the Youth Worlds we had switched to Zaoli Sails for the 420 Worlds to help us get used to tuning them. Below is a video our of first training session in Portugal using them. It was a gorgeous 15-20 knots blast in 25 degrees. I think that just about is the definition of champagne sailing. 

The next few days bought a whole range of wind strengths and directions which was perfect to help us acclimatise to the venue. We hired bikes as well to make the long commute to the sailing club more exciting and just quicker. Over the next few days we made huge gains on our boat tuning and making sure we were getting the most out of our new sails capability. A few days later the rest of Team GBR arrived. The GBR 420 class send 20 boats and 40 sailors out to the Worlds making it a great team event which really helps make the event more enjoyable and is a great way of helping each other out.

Wish it was always like this...

Before we knew it measurement and registration was upon us. Measurement in a 420 international event is the most unenjoyable experience ever. It requires the sailors to completely strip the boats of all ropes and to make the boat perfectly dry. The dry part is the easiest as the hot weather evaporates all possible traces of water meaning the boats inconveniently end up under weight requiring us to put lead in our boat to make it the required 80.00 kilos. After all of this we then have to put EVERYTHING back into our boats which takes ages. Especially for Will and I who seem to take a lot longer than everyone else. The only positive is this means the start of the event is near. 

Oh wait big wave inbound

Ahhh looks nice and calm

Day 1 was always going to be an interesting day for Will and I. This was our first 420 World   Championships so we didn't know what to expect. However, I often find this a positive as it means there is no result based pressure as such as we don't know what a 'good' result is. The first day brought a solid 13-16 knots, which we knew we were fast in with the new Zaoli's. All of the nerves reached their climax on the start and as we were lining up for a tasty start our trapeze rope pulled through! NOT IDEAL! Luckily Will my crew is great at keeping calm and calming me down and we managed to sail a superb race to pull back to 13th. With the positive points of race 1 we put our head down and sailed quick for race 2 bagging a solid 2nd. Overall a positive first day.

Sunny and windy = perfection

The next two days bought solid breeze of around 11-20 knots. We had some of the best races we've sailed and managed to get 3,4,2,8. We were shocked but absolutely stoked with this performance. At the gold, silver cut off after day 3 we were in 4th place overall. Not a bad place to be! But now the hard work started...

The 3 days of qualification bought light and difficult winds :( We seemed to struggle with getting off the start line as we would lose our lane soon after the start. This put us on the back foot. 2 jury penalties didn't help our progress either as it meant we had to retire from our only top 10 in gold fleet. Overall we finished 15th which we were still pleased with as 15th in the World is a pretty solid result!


We came out of the event with many training points to take into the rest of the year but didn't have too much time to reflect as 30 mins after we got in we were off to Poland for the Youth Worlds. See you in the next blog post :)

He really is tall!

YOUTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

What a busy few months its been! It's been a hectic balance of school and sailing since Christmas with many weekends away along with lots of homework in the evening as we ramp up to the exams time of the year. 

We've had a combination of training camps consisting of Youth Squads and individual sessions self led by William and I. When we combine these training camps together it gives the best results as we are able to focus on really small things such as maintaining max speed when bearing round a mark. This helps us to really define our skills and make sure they are automatic. Also, we get to do loads of Waszp sailing when we're on our own, which adds some foiling fun to the sailing along with a bit of wake boarding. From the Youth Squad camps we get more training on our rig set up and a a bit of starting practice and then of course all the strategic and tactical learning. 

After our training came to an end it was time for the selection series to start. In the 420 we have 3 selection events: the Spring Championships, the Inland Championships and then the RYA Youth National Championships.  All 3 event's scores are combined to create an overall ranking which determines whether you make it into the 420 World Championships Team and/or the 420 Junior Europeans Team. The RYA Youth National Championships is also the event that decides which boats go to the Youth Sailing World Championships which is the top boy boat and top girl boat from each class. This is the most prestigious event a youth sailor can do!

Some intense spinnaker staring downwind

So the first event: the Inland Championships. This event was held in Rutland Water and was cold and windy! The first day saw too much wind in fact and was blown off to the delight of the parents who could sit down and watch the rugby whilst we all pottered about with nothing to do. FUN! Day 2 came along with similar conditions in the morning however the lulls continued to drop throughout the day creating some crazily gusty and lully conditions which was not fun! We didn't have the best day getting a 5,11,7,4 which we feel was because we were struggling with our rig set up and felt we were either too overpowered in gusts or too underpowered in lulls. We came away with 6th overall, which was a disappointment. 

From then it was down to Lymington for two weekends in a row the first being a Youth Squad and then second being some individual training. The Youth Squad camp focused on racing strategy and rules. The next weekend on our own was the final weekend of training before the Spring Championships and the Youth Nationals so we decided to have a boat handling weekend where we went over our routines for each manourve making sure it was as automatic as possible. With a little bit of boat work we felt as prepared as possible. 

I then had a few days of revision followed by some Optimist coaching with West Kirby Race Team before I headed down to Weymouth to meet up with William for the 420 Spring Championships. This event saw perfect sailing conditions with no rain and 14 knots (well perfect for England!). Despite this we struggled with our strategy and tactics however we were feeling fast. This was demonstrated by our inconsistent overall results which were 1,9,3,13,12,1,8. These results placed us 6th overall (AGAIN!!). We came away with positives as we had no doubt in was our set up or speed and that we just had to make sure we were taking less risks and staying around the top 5 in every race. William then went home for a week for GCSE revison whilst I stayed in Weymouth and continued training (with other sailors) and doing boat work which ended up being a really productive week as I learnt a lot about how the sails work and the optimum settings and also made our boat more like a racing machine. 

Cheeky blast!

Then it was time for the RYA Youth Nationals!! 5 days of racing to decide who attends the Youth Worlds and the final event of the selection series to decide the 420 Worlds and Junior Europeans Teams. I registered 2 days earlier without William because we had to do a full boat measurement which takes a lot of time and effort. This meant once William arrived after his week of revision and some fitness testing we were able to go out training. 

Our final training session was in 30 knots out in Weymouth bay which was hairy to say the least but great fun to sail in and glad the boat didn't break. Day 1 saw no racing which was a shame due to all the build up but was a good test of patience. 

Happy times :)

We finally got out on day 2 in a light breeze of about 6 knots. We managed a 6 and a 2 and were winning the final race but due to some race committee issues the race was abandoned. This put us in 2nd place overall and 1st boys which put us under increased pressure. 

Day 3 saw no racing again due to fog but at least it was warm on shore and was a great time to bond and catch up with fellow optimist sailors who had separated into different classes. 

Day 4 of the event saw perfect sailing conditions so we were launched early expecting a long day on the water. We had 4 races out in Weymouth Bay followed by one sunset race in the harbour. This day may have been the best day we had ever sailed together as we managed to sail a 2,4,4,5,2 in our most pressurised event yet. Our strategy upwind fell right into place! These results boosted us up to 1st overall going into the last day. 

Day 5 saw light airs but still an early start with the potential for a few morning races. My heart was racing on the way out to the racecourse! The first race turned out to be very weird with us being 2nd round most of the course until the wind completely dropped and shifted massively to the right creating a very unfair race however despite this the race committee decided to let it stand meaning we had to discard a 12th. The wind we'd had completely left us and the race committee had to send us in. This meant we had retained our lead overall and were RYA 420 Youth National Champions!!! 

This was our first major victory in the 420 and we were over the moon. After lots of photos and interviews we were finally able to reflect and let it all sink in. What an amazing feeling! We'd just like to thank Musto, our parents and our coaches as well!

This means we're having the summer of our lives! We are away from 25 June until 30 July. First we're heading to Portugal for the 420 World Championships. Then we are off to Poland for the Youth World Championships and then to Spain for the 420 Junior Europeans. I am so excited! For now though, William is in full exam mode with his upcoming GCSE's. And as for me, I have my short Year 12 exam period which I'm currently doing before my fitness program starts in preparation for all our events and then I have to start some catch up work for the 5 weeks of school I'm missing for these summer events! 

The cheesy winning smiles coming out

Back to the Winter grind!

Since my last blog post, I have been crazily busy. Out of 7 weekends, I have been sailing for 6 of them! Oh, and I started 6th form was has been a blast but also lots and lots of work. 

I started with coaching at the Optimist End of Seasons in Weymouth which was a sunny weekend with some great individual successes for the West Kirby Race Team. I really enjoy the coaching weekends with the Optimist class as I get to pass on my knowledge from the class which I spent 7 years in to really enthusiastic sailors who are willing to learn and improve - a fantastic sight to see. Surprisingly, I actually learn a lot for my own sailing when I'm on a rib coaching as it is easier to see the 'big picture' - a well-needed skill for my personal sailing. 

I was back down in Weymouth again next weekend for a 470 Olympic Ranker! I was happily invited by Dan Burns to sail the event which turned out to be mega fun! On day 1 it was unfortunately too windy to sail so we went to the cinema to watch a movie with some good mates of mine who I hadn't seen for ages, which was good fun, and then went for a delicious curry. Thankfully day 2 brought slightly less wind (20 knots) which was quite windy for the first time in the 470! I learned so much which was awesome as I am interested in sailing the Olympic class when I am older. We even managed to get a 3rd! 

Tight committee boat end start 

It was then a week of hard school work before heading to Rutland for the 420 Inlands which was a re-run as it was initially called off due to poor weather earlier this year. We had a gusty weekend which was good fun when sailing on a triangle- sausage course, making the reach to reach gybe very interesting. Overall we had a good regatta in terms of racing/results however we felt like we had a bad weekend as we weren't sailing the boat very well- making too many mistakes. We came out of the event with a new goal- improving our downwind sailing in gusty conditions in terms of sailing towards the gusts more and deciding our angles that were needed better. 

The next weekend was back down in Weymouth for the first 420 Youth Squad Camp which we are very excited to be a part of. This was a crazy weekend as it was seriously windy both days. We were still able to keep it productive though and we learned a new skill called the 'Wild thing' where the crew is on the wire downwind which makes the boat more stable when sailing in a higher angle as we were going quicker than the waves. We also had a big group meal on Saturday night which is great as it helps the team to bond together forming many great friendships. Then it was a whole weekend off which was well needed as school work was seriously starting to build up!

Then it was back down to Weymouth (becoming a bit of a theme this Winter) for our first Multi-class Youth Squad A camp. Youth Squad A consists of the top 2-4 boats in each youth class who receive fully funded extra coaching which is awesome and we are very proud to be a part of it. We started the weekend with a whole squad meeting and then separate meetings with our individual class coaches. Jonny Mcgovern brought down lots of cool microphones which meant we could speak and hear each other without having to be next to each other, as well as a camera that told you every piece of data you ever needed to know. We then headed out in some fruity conditions. About halfway through the session,

we had a huge squall whilst in the bay which was recorded at a whopping 47 knots! We instantly capsized and then had to wait on the overturned boat whilst the squall died which was pretty scary as we were surrounded by ships. When we righted the boat we came up with a rip in the mainsail and spinnaker, a lost batten from the jib and a bent mast. NOT IDEAL! Then a long sail in before we assessed the damage which was a cost of about £2000. EEEK. We then had another meeting, this one about anti-doping in which we learned about what not to take and the consequences of doing the wrong thing. We also learned that at any point now we can be tested. The next day brought lighter winds so we went in the rib and swapped in and out with our training partner. It was then another long journey home and a hectic week during which I had lots of boat work to do including rigging a new mast!


We headed to Grafham for the 420 End of Seasons the weekend after. We had a hectic Saturday morning as we had no settings and the main halyard was tapered slightly wrong but we just about made it out on the water in the time for the first race. We had a good weekend in terms of sailing in some light conditions which we needed some practice in. However, once again we had some boat issues as we snapped the gooseneck and then broke the pole trying to fit a new one with a minute to go before a race start. Overall we finished 4th which was a remarkable result considering the 'boat situation'. 

Gorgeous reaching breeze

It was then a busy week at school catching up on missed work before heading down to Plymouth for a 420 Youth Squad residential camp. The very long drive was worth it as we had light winds at a cool, new and quirky venue. It's always nice to go to a new venue and some warm winter weather made it even nicer. The camp had a focus on starting which always results in long, tedious sessions but are then the most rewarding and productive. We came away with big improvements in our scoops and trigger pulls which is a nice little skill to have and should help us on those tough international start lines. It was then a proper pack up as the boat had to go over to Palamos. 

The next 2 weeks brought a lot of school work and 2 whole free weekends in a row. A very strange occurrence in my busy lifestyle! 

Next came Palamos which was a 7-day trip and I got to miss 5 days of college which was an added bonus. The Christmas regatta at Palamos is great as it's at the same time as the 470, Finn and laser events making it great to catch up with friends which I haven't seen in ages. We stayed in an apartment overlooking the apartment with my friend Drew Wright's dad which was great for postponements as we could see the flags from the balcony! We arrived at the event 4 days early which was great as it was a new venue for me. The first few days brought some light wind tuning which was good to get the boat set up and tuned correctly as we were using a new M7 mast. We then had 1 crazy day of training with huge waves which was epic. The training was short but intense much like our training in Lymington which I find is often the most effective. Before we knew it the event was upon us and day 1 was pending. We launched in a light breeze of 5 knots however the chop from the day before was still present making it very lumpy and hard to keep the flow over the sails. After postponements, the breeze gradually grew until we had a solid 15-18 knots with some large swell. We got 5,5,12 which we were pretty happy with considering Spain are the top nation at the moment in 420's. However, we were slightly disappointed with the 12th as we were coming 5th again however we lacked downwind speed when the wind dropped. Despite this, it was a successful day and we came out of it with another thing to work on. The next day incredibly dull with no wind, however, the winter sun made an appearance which was nice. Day 3 saw similar weather to day 1 with little breeze to start the day however it gradually built whilst we were doing our pre-start routines until we ended with 20+ knots and a huge swell which was awesome and one of the best days sailing ever! We scored a 7,12 and a 3rd. The 12th was quite annoying as we were 2nd in that race but capsized downwind and then in the last race we were leading around the whole course but we broached on the final downwind so we had to settle for a 3rd. Still a good result though. Our downwind definitely needs work! This put us in 10th place overall going into the last day which was good as our goal was to be top 10. That night we cooked a lovely fish dinner before having an early night ready for the final day racing. We woke up to a solid 0 knots with no chance of the breeze increasing so we packed the boats up and had a day chilling before catching a flight back home early the next morning. Overall the week was good fun and we did very well coming 10th overall as top British boat against a competitive fleet. We also came out of the event with many downwind training points to work on in the upcoming training season. 

For now its back to school before a long set of training weekends with a mixture of youth squad camps and independent training camps. Hopefully, I will also have some time to teach Freya some skills as well. 

A brilliant Summer 2018

WOW! What a busy summer it's been. 100% my best summer to date. It was a long one as well, starting on the 25 June because I had finished GCSE's. That was was a massive relief.

Putting in the long training hours

My first event was the Junior 420 Europeans, in sunny Sesimbra, Portugal, which was nice as I was able to catch some rays whilst sailing. I arrived a few days early as Mum and I had a mini holiday before training got into full swing. William arrived a few days later because he was at the Waszp Europeans so during my time waiting I was able to spend time out on a rib and really get to know the venue. So it was a good start to the trip, apart from losing my sunnies! I also had a lot of time to do boat work which was really productive.

Once Will arrived we got training asap. We managed to sneak in a day and a half of intense training before taking the mast down AGAIN and completely stripping the boat for measurement which is just as annoying as it sounds. By now we were in full race mode so our training got more intense. Despite this our evenings stayed just as fun. There was a fantastic sushi shop which I went to nearly every day! The difference between optimist team events and 420 team events is the level of independence. In opti's you have to be with the coaches at all times and follow a strict schedule, whereas in 420's there's a lot more independence. However this means you have to be a lot more self disciplined. 

Going into the event we had no expectations because it was our first major 420 event. We just wanted to gain experience so that next year we can come back and do well. 

A breezy WW mark rounding

The first day was very relaxed. A 1pm launch for a 2pm start. And a beautiful breeze and sun. We sailed two races on the first day and managed to bag a 14 and 21st. We had no idea whether that was good, so we were reasonably happy. Day 2 and 3, on the other hand, proved we should have been a bit disappointed. We had two days of a solid 15 knots, with 25 knots in one race. We managed to get a 5,6,6,7 pushing us up into the medals! However it went downhill from there with some results in the 20s and 30s. This may be because we weren't sailing well, however, I think it was because of our fitness levels. We know now how much fitter you need to be to sail at the front of the fleet for 6 days now and we are working hard to make sure we improve this. Another pointer we found is that we needed to improve on was our trigger pulls. Its always good when you know what went wrong because then you know what to do to make improvements. Overall we came 14th out of 44 which we'e still proud about. A good, fun and worthwhile regatta in the end and a great start to a long summer.

From then, I drove straight from Portugal to France (not fun) for the French 420 Nationals. Unfortunately Will had to go back to school so I competed with Alex Hughes which was a really fun event in a beautiful location: Douarenez. The weather was magnificent and we had wind every day which was perfect. And then I had my birthday which was great fun.... the ferry ride home. 

Next t was a week off before heading to the Optimist Nationals in Pwllheli at which I was coaching the West Kirby Race Team. This was a great first week coaching and really valuable for me. We also had some good results! 

Then another 4 days off before driving down to Lymington for some 420 training with Will. This was really useful as we worked on our mistakes from Portugal as well as receiving some coaching from Nick Rogers (Olympic 470 silver medallist) who happens to be William's uncle. Our training in Lymington is always fun and productive as we get to decide the training plan and the timings for the day. We also get to do other fun things like wakeboarding! This lasted 5 days before we packed up and drove up to Brightlingsea (a new location) for the 420 UK nationals. We were camping which made it really fun too. 

The winners at the 420 UK nationals 

The event was 4 days and is meant to be a fun event with socials every evening. The weather was weird, with two days of super light conditions and two very very breezy days of 20+knots. We grabbed a bullet in the first race which was great and put us in good spirits. We followed that with a 10th which was nice. We then had the two windy days in which we got a good scorecard of 8,18 (we capsized), 5,7,5,3. This put us in 4th going into the last race. However unfortunately on the last day we picked up a Black Flag (BFD) and a 7th dropping us back to 6th overall. However this meant we were still Junior National Champions which is awesome and shows how much we have progressed over the summer. 

Team MUSTO

It was then 2 days off before I went down to Poole for the Optimist Late Summer Championships where I was coaching again. This turned out to be an awesome event for the West Kirby Race Team as every sailor saw huge improvements from the Nationals which is a great feeling. I also gained a lot of coaching knowledge which is good as every time I can be better for my sailors. 

Then it was back for the start of 6th form, which is a lot of work. Thankfully it was only a few days before I was back down in Lymington 420 training for the Autumn Championships. We trained in a group of 4 boats which was great for speed comparisons. The weekend after it was the big event. The 420 Autumn Championships held in Lymington. This was the primary selector event for Youth Squad and Youth Squad A. The weather wasn't great and we had two days of 15+ knots. We were focused and determined and absolutely smashed it grabbing 2nd overall, 1st boys and 1st Juniors. This blew our previous best off the water which was a great feeling and proving we sail best under pressure. Our scorecard was 8,4,4,3,9,1 which is a solid consistent series. The bullet in the last race was nice to as we took the lead on the final downwind which was very close and intense. Overall a incredibly successful event and good to do it in our home waters. 

For now it's back to college but the sailing, luckily, doesn't stop. I have a weekend coaching at the Optimist End of Seasons before the 420 Inlands and then End of Seasons. Oh yes and lots of training. Can't wait!

WKSC Race Team at the Nationals 

RYA YOUTH NATIONALS 2018

Hiya all. Sorry about the late post. I've had this post waiting to be posted for ages I just have forgotten to press the send button. Silly me! Well, here it is anyway and expect another one very soon... 

Training hard

This was William and mine first RYA youths and our first 'important' event. The youths are the final of three 420 events that decide the GBR teams for the Euros and Worlds. The Euros is the harder event to get so is more prestigious (opposite to optimist). William and I had a performance goal of achieving our best performance yet in the UK 420 class and an outcome/result goal of getting at least Worlds team and hopefully Euros Team and therefore Youth Squad (optimist equivalent is National squad). 

The first of the three selection events was in crazy wavy Torbay. We had two days of windy wave sailing which is not ideal for a light, young pairing like me and William. The result was not ideal but we did enough to stay in contention as we managed to just about hold our own in the breeze. Unfortunately for us, the next event was cancelled due to poor weather putting the pressure on the final event- the RYA Youth Nationals 2018. 

A breezy WW mark rounding

The 2018 RYA Youth Nationals were held in sunny Scotland... which funnily enough happens to be very cold in Easter. The event was 5 days long and I arrived two days prior for some practice.  I stayed on a friends yacht which was moored in the yacht haven with no adults which was lots of fun and gave us the opportunity to be very independent. The beginning of the week did not go to plan. Firstly I had my fantastic Musto drysuit stolen which is not ideal in Scotland when the average temperature was in the minuses. And then we had not one but two days cancelled due to high winds and Antarctic-like temperatures. Finally, on the 3rd day, we managed to bag in two windy races where we got a solid 13th and a 7th - a nice start to our regatta in tough conditions. The next day brought glammer conditions. Sun and 10 knots of breeze. We were loving it. We also managed to get our first win in the 420 class in which we lead the whole way around.  We came out of that day with a solid 1,21,4,11 which we were very happy about. The final day brought more narly conditions with 20+knots of winds. We managed to just send it and got a 19th and an 11th meaning we finished 10th overall- a very credible result in which William and I were pleased about. In the end, we managed to achieve all the possible teams but we declined the Worlds team due to cost. This means that soon we will be off to the 420 Europeans in Sesimbra, Portugal which I'm super excited for! 

Winning a race with a beautiful background

Now back to the present day. I've just finished my GCSE's which went really well but meant I missed a lot of sailing which is pants. However, William and I are coming back with a bang and are ready to smash the Europeans which I leave for tomorrow. That lasts until the 11th of July and I get back to the UK at midnight in which I drive home and then have to get up early to catch a boat to France to do the 420 French Nationals with a good friend Alex Hughes as poor Will has to go back to school. So a busy July to look forward to but thanks to Musto I'm set for it. I'll catch up with you guys at the end of summer to inform you of my adventures!