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 

Summer 2016

I haven't done a blog post for ages so have so much to tell you about starting with summer. OMG!! What an awesome summer I had! In this blog I am going to tell you about: French Nationals, British Nationals, 420 Nationals, the Late Summers and the 420 Autumn champs. Yes the problem with sailing 2 boats!!

French Nationals

Opening ceremony

Squad Photo

I went to the French Nationals with the Development team from the Selections which consisted of 8 sailors. Despite not being the team I was hoping for- I was still looking forward to the event as I knew I had a good chance of doing well and also it was going to be hot! The event was held over the 16th July to the 22nd of July (which also included my birthday). We left for the event a few days earlier to do some training. The training was so good due to the nice weather. For me, training in hot weather makes me feel so much more relaxed and ready to sail. I really liked going to the event a few days earlier as it meant we could relax much more and meant there was much less stress. Also we weren't training for too long each day so it meant we could relax on the beach or go back to the house and play football. We were staying at some massive house about 20 minutes away which was quite cool. I also got my own double bed bedroom to myself which was crazy!! 
The lead up to the event was awesome which Is why I was surprised at my lack of form on the early days of the regatta. It was the group stages and I was struggling to get top 10's. I guess the light,shifty and annoying conditions didn't really help with the pressure I had put on myself once again. Another upset was the lack of racing. In the end we missed 3 days of racing due to light winds. In the end I was 13th going into the gold fleet which was still ok. However I wanted more and top 10 finishes.

But lets forget about the racing for a moment- because it was my birthday. My parents and Freya gave me a scare in the morning when my boat had gone 'missing'. After scouring the boat park for a few minutes they jumped out at me and presented my boat. It was decorated with balloons everywhere, bunting and banners covering the boat and most embarrassingly the band played Happy Birthday. I don't know whether I was crying with happiness or embarrassment! And then it was back to racing. Hard racing. Gold fleet racing. I knew I had to turn it on. And that's exactly what I did! I went out there and smashed it twice over. 2,2,9. I don't know whether it was the fact it was my birthday or just because I knew I had to do better. But whatever it was, please let my have it again. The next day was the final day. I had climbed up to 8th but I still knew I could do better. Unfortunately the racing was postponed for ages so we only managed one race. In the race i got a 6th which I was pretty pleased about. To be able to get all top 10 results  in gold fleet was pretty cool. Then it was prize giving and packing away time. Luckily though we weren't leaving until the next day. The next morning we went down to the sailing club to pick up the boats and typical it was perfect weather. Anyway after that we went to the beach and had some chill time before leaving. Thinking back on the event now I still think I could have performed better but I was still happy with my performance. 

British Nationals 

Haggis crisps

Nationals number 2. Just a lot colder this time. Actually to be fair to Scotland I managed to sail a few times in rash vests- but still not as good as France! This was a fun event because there is no pressure on it anymore and my friend Jamie Cook was staying with us. We made the long trek up a day early so we could get some practice in. I'd being doing lots of 420 sailing recently so it felt very different. Then it was an early nights sleep and getting ready for a busy week of racing. Another reason why it was quite fun was because my grandparents were staying there. This meant nice meals every night! Then the racing started. I was feeling the pressure again defiantly. 18,3,BFD. Not a good day. However I was hoping the up and down winds would suit me. But they defiantly didn't. They made my results very very up and down. For the rest of the regatta I had results ranging from 8 to 44. CRAZY! Despite some disappointing results I still managed to do OK and came 7th brit in the end. I spoke to head coach Alan Williams afterwards and he said that I was sailing very well just  hadn't set up my rig properly for the tricky conditions. This was  a nice thing to hear because at least it made me feel like I wasn't sailing so badly after all. The week in general though was still a success and I have lots of memories from it Can't miss a good Nationals!!

420 Nationals
Nationals number 3. Just in a 420 this time. The next class I am moving into is the 420. This is a two handed boat in which I sail with my good friend William Heathcote (also a beast opi sailor). We are starting to do events and training in the 420 so that when we move into the class officially we're already good enough to compete. We went into this event with no pressure on us which made it so much more enjoyable. The event was at Pwhelli so we stayed in a farm which was really cool. We stayed in a massive house which also had a go-kart place track and wake boarding lake. The 420 events are so much less stressful as everyone is so laid back. In an oppie everyone is waiting centimeters away from the water ready to launch whereas in 420 when the launch flag goes up you launch about 20 minutes later. This was good for us because we were so slow at doing everything. The 420 takes so long to set up as you have to re tie everything back onto the boat from the mast. We spent 2 hours on the first day setting up the boat. Looking forward to the regatta we were really excited, firstly because the 420 is such a cool boat and secondly because the week was looking light.

However the start of the event didn't go to plan. There was no racing for the first two days. This was such a shame because we were so looking forward to some light wind days.However the good thing about it was the fact that it gave us time to catch up with all our old friends. Also on the first day (after sailing was cancelled) we all went out on a rib to go cliff jumping out on the Abersoch islands. This was so fun but also quite scary.
Wednesday brought a better day though. Warm weather and light but sailable winds. PERFECT! Our first race was such as shock that I could really believe it 5th out of 40  round the windward mark beating Milly and Vita( William's older sister who is one of the best in the class)!! We managed to finish in an awesome 10th. Everyone was so shocked with our finish. And the day only got better from there. 9th,11,14,32!!!! We were sitting in 11th overall over night. That night was a celebratory go kart session. And then... no sailing the next day. And then 20+knts the last day. We made the wise decision not to go out!! Luckily for us they only did one race we meant we finished 14th overall. OMG! What a great week. Awesome sailing and awesome fun! I also forget to mention the parties. They were pretty dreads to!! Thanks to Kate and George for taking me and William for being a awesome crew! 

Late Summers
And finally the dreaded Late Summers. This year was defiantly a special and one to remember. 25+knts and a massive swell on the first day and 2knts on the second day! I know this is a bold statement but I think the first day as my best day sailing ever. I have one very distinct memory of flying pass my friend Henry Chandler downwind and then watching him capsize whilst talking to me. I nearly capsized myself I was in such hysterics! I must have been on superpowers that day as I finished the day with two 2nd places. Me doing well in heavy winds!! No not for a second. To be honest though I wouldn't care where I came on that day. The sailing was good enough to keep me happy that day. And then Sunday.... NOTHING. Absoulutly nothing. However it was going to be the test to find the best overall sailor because of two very different conditions. And the first race of the day= Another 2nd place. Going into the last race I was sitting on 2,2,2. However to win overall I would have to have won the race. And... I got BFD. Oops. Despite the disappointing last race I was still pretty pleased with the regatta. I finished in 3rd place which guaranteed me a National Squad position. Not to shabby. 

When I started the 420 sailing alongside the oppie I was worried that I would get too carried away and would want to leave oppies early. In reality it's helping. It has opened up my sailing world and made me realize that there is Life after Oppies. The stress has gone. Another stress releaser is Freya. Having someone that close to me with me has kept me preoccupied and not thinking about results. Instead of looking at my race I'm seeing how Freya is doing and somehow this is a good thing! Sorry about the late blog but keep tuned because a new one is on the way soon!!