The end of an Optimist era!

Wow, what a brilliant last event. The Optimist Nationals 2017 was probably the best one yet. I went into the event not worrying too much about the result but ending an era well. And I sure did. 

The last squad chat

It was at Weymouth so we stayed in the big house we normally do. Once again we had Jamie Cook staying with us because he wins best when he stays with us so we're clearly his lucky charms!!! ;)  It was a windy week which made the event a bit more enjoyable and fun apart from 2 days when we couldn't sail because it was too windy. I had a really good set of results with only one result outside the top 10 in 13 races. But I think what made it most fun for me was being able to see and say goodbye to my amazing friends. 

Winning in a race on my last day

Overall at the event I finished 5th and 2nd Brit which got me quite a few trophies. My new family member Jamie Cook won the event again because he was staying with the Sewell's! 

My grandparents came down from Tuesday to Friday which was lovely because due to our new house move to Cheshire I don't get to see them so often. We carried on our nationals tradition of Chinese on the last night which once again was delicious. 

The face of a happy man!

So now that Oppies are over, bring on 420's. I am sailing with William Heathcote who has become one of my best friends through Oppie sailing. We have a lot of work to do over the winter to get up to speed and start competing at the top level starting next week when Will and I are up in Scotland for the 420 nationals. Then back down to Lymington for a week of 420 sailing. Wish me luck!

I would just like to say a massive thanks to some people who have helped me so much over the last seven years of Oppie sailing:  Musto and Nick Houchin (for the lovely kit), North Sails, Winner (for the awesome boat), The Heathcote family, The Cook family, The Evans family, Alan Williams/Sarah Williams/Tom Haynes/Kat Colvin/Vagelis Atzemian/Claire Chapple  and all the other coaches who've helped me, Will King, The Ellis family and particuraly Cordelia Ellis for helping me to start sailing and becoming an massive inspiration for me ('win low, lose high' I still remember). IOCA UK and all the volunteers who run the events, the RYA And then most of all my grandparents and parents and sister for supporting this great life and just helping with absolutely everything!!

Proud dad taking a few to many photos

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!!   

A no sailing Nationals

I never realised that not sailing at the Nationals could be so fun! 

Because my collar bone was still repairing I wasn't able to compete at the Nationals this year so I thought before we went that I was going to have a bit of a sad week. However, luckily for me Alastair Beardsall came to my rescue and gave me the chance of helping him on the Measurer's Boat for Junior Fleet. 

The fleet of to racing 

Cool, this meant I could spend the week on the water on a rib which is the next best thing to sailing and better than being stuck onshore.  The measuring boat (well the Measurers on the measuring boat) randomly pick boats that have finished in the top 20 to make sure they are safe and not breaking any of the boat set up rules. So we were checking things from a praddle being tied in to a sail being in bands. 

My role on the boat was to be the scribe. I wrote down the sail numbers of the boats we measured along with their  sail button number and then any problems we found with the boat. To say the least it was a busy job however I thoroughly enjoyed it and I can't thank Alastair enough for letting me go  on his rib and help. 

Despite not being able to sail I learn't a lot from the week as well as being able to help out with the measuring, I was able to get a really good view on the racing and think about what I would do in the circumstances of the racing we were watching. I also helped out with giving some of the sailors some hints and tips. And Alastair spent a load of time teaching me how to drive a rib- it's so much fun! 

One of the day's was pretty light winds and I was able to jump in an Opi for a bit of a sail which all went well with no problems for my shoulder.

Despite me not being able to sail, Freya still sailed and had an awesome week. However it was a tough week for her and the rest of the Regatta fleet sailors due to high winds and a big waves! Despite all this Freya powered through and boosted her self confidence. She is so super smiley about sailing. In the racing she did OK, with her best race result being 12th. She won a medal for being the coaches Sailor of the Week in her group. Nice work Freya.

As well as me and Freya being on the water all week Mum spent the week on a boat too. She was on the Committee Boat for the Transition and Regatta fleet. I think the first two days were a bit scary because of the big waves but the rest was good. Mum learnt loads about racing too, it was funny hearing her talk about racing and the rules and stuff!
On another note my collar-bone is healing on track. Once back from the Nationals I did Gurnard Dinghy week in a Pico with Oliver Evans with me helming and all was fine with my shoulder. We were defending the slow handicap trophy we won last year.  Last year we won nearly every race, which we didn't manage to do again but we did well enough to to retain the trophy.

Mum getting to grips with being in Wales

Luxury launch service from Dad

This weekend I'm back in my Opi racing at Chichester and then hope to get some training in before a busy September that starts with the New Late Summers which is our new ranking event(instead of the first 6 races of the Nationals-PHEEW!!). Can't wait!

What a summer of sailing part 2: British Nationals to European TeamRacing Champs

Hello, back again with part 2 of my solid summer of sailing. 

After the European Championship and Gurnard Dinghy Week it was straight onto the British Optimist Nationals down at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy. I like sailing there because it's such a great racing area and because it's where the Olympic sailing was in 2012.

The nationals were awesome, probably the best one I've done so far with brilliant weather, a mix of wind strengths and tough competition with a lot of international sailors taking part. The year was my last in Junior main fleet and as a National Squad sailor and having just come back from being in Team GBR at the Euros, I felt under a bit of pressure to do well and quite nervous. Also the first six races count towards our rankings for the squad qualifications at the end of the year.

We went to Weymouth as a family as Freya was sailing too. When we eventually got there after an interesting trip I was straight onto the water for a bit of a warm up sail. It was really windy (not my favourite conditions) so it was really good to test myself out against all the other competitors. It was then off to see what the house we had rented was like. It was awesome,  there was a really big  bedroom  for me and Freya and a chill out room in a huge loft. It also had a big pole in the middle of the living room which was interesting! Mum had done a top job on finding this one.

 

Sunday: We started off with a practise race in which I did quite well despite the really windy conditions! I sailed with the other fleet so that I could test myself against the top guys who were in the other fleet. I won the race but stopped before the finish because it is bad luck to win a practise race. Due to the fact that we had time spare we managed to do another two races but these were real!! I got a 4th and a 12th but they left me in 18th position which was not what I wanted :(

Monday: Monday brought some lighter conditions and I had two very good races, a 1st and a 2nd. In the 2nd race a Spaniard beat me so in the rolling rankings it meant that I got 2 1st places!!!

Tuesday: Once again it was a day of very windy conditions (20knts +) so I wasn't able to get the results I needed. In the end I got a 10th,16th and a 4th.

Wednesday: Wednesday brought some medium conditions but it was really shifty and I got caught out many times. The results were disappointing...a 5th, 24th and a 12th. 

Thursday; The next day brought the same conditions as yesterday however I  was able to improve my results: a 3rd, 12th and a 2nd! 

Going into the final day there was no way I could catch Alexandra Schonrock who was leading and had sailed a great regatta but I had a chance of overtaking William Heathcote to be the top British boy.
 

Team Isle of Wight -
Cameron Hook, Freddie Ellis, Me,
Freya, Lily Ellis, Toby Atherton,
Oliver Evans, Mathew Bamber

I was really up for Friday and couldn't wait to get going so when we got up in the morning and the sea was flat calm and no wind it wasn't looking good. We waited and waited but in the end the racing was abandoned at lunch time which was a disappointing way for the event to end but I still finished 7th overall and third British sailor so a good result.

Because we had such great conditions throughout the event, it meant that on a few days we got through the race programme and back ashore early. This meant I could see Freya coming in from being out with the mini racers which I really liked. She had a brilliant week too, came third in her racing and got a coaches sailor of week medal at the prize giving. Nice one Sis.

When we got back from the Nationals we had a couple of days on dry land before Freya did Cadet Week at our club. I wasn't sailing in this but was able to help out with coaching the Oppie fleets. I had such a brilliant week. I really like coaching and helping out other sailors and I got to do a bit of sailing when we had to do some rescues. It was really nice to see Freya out on the water too. Her sailing improved so much over the Nationals and Cadet week. I hope she starts racing soon. We put my GoPro camera on her boat on one day so she could see how well she's doing too.

After Cadet week we had a whole week of not sailing. Hmmmm. But then it was off with Team GBR (Sophie Holloway, Julia Mellers, Oliver Hill and me) to the European Team Racing Championshp in Lake Ledro, Italy. 

Mum, Dad and Freya came to this one too but only after dropping me off at the airport. While I flew over they went all the way by car. It was like some sort of Top Gear challenge ony they were only in the lead to Dover! And during the event while I was in a hotel they were camping at the other end of the Lake!!

Me in action at the
Euro Team Racing Champs, I'm the 2nd boat

Going in to this event we didn't really know what to expect. There were 16 teams in total and quite a lot of the countries have special team racing teams who do loads of training for the event. We had only team raced a couple of times before and had one training session against the GBR worlds team.

On our first day of racing we had three matches and one won against the Spanish.  We were all pretty pleased about this and it gave us a big boost and belief that we could win more. Over the next few days we saw massive leaps and gains in our team racing abilities, personally and as a team. It was really funny seeing the other teams getting told off by their coaches because they had been beaten by us. It just made us want to win even more!
 

Our Team base at the lake

We managed to get just over half wins which put us in Gold fleet which was very exciting! Last year the team didn't win a single race and came last so we were very excited about winning a race and then we made gold fleet. As the week carried on we were able to slowly carry on gaining. Going in to the last day we were 5th overall!! We had a bad day as a team however we were able to thankfully hold our position!

The last night was very memorable with fireworks and a 2:00am bedtime!!! A week of fun.



Gelato time

Lake Ledro was an incredible place to be with the views of the mountains. Our hotel was a bit interesting with electricity plug sockets hanging off the walls and sparking and meals every night that were pasta first course, followed by meat. But the local gelato made up for it.

It was really nice seeing Mum, Dad and Freya in between races for a bit each day and knowing they we're watching me and we all had a big team meal of the final night.



Launching

All in all it was a great event. It was really nice racing as a team and our coach Will and house parent Lizze did a great job in helping us with the racing and looking after us.

With the event over I then joined Mum, Dad and Freya and we stayed on for a few days holiday and some walks in the mountains, swimming in the Lake and lots more gelato. It was then a two day drive back to home but at least I got to watch four hours of the Volvo Race on DVD non stop.





Team GBR at the prize giving -
we got a t-shirt of tiny jar of honey,
Will got a belt and can of WD40!!

So all in all a full on, brilliant summer of sailing. I've had a few ups and downs in the racing,  learnt so much and had soooo much fun. Now the autumn looks like it will be just as good with loads more racing to come!! 

  

Optimist Nationals 2013 in LARGS!

It's been a very busy sailing time recently with the Volvo Gill British National Championships in Largs then only a week inbetween before we set off to Dun Laoghaire for the Irish Nationals.

It was the first time I've been to Scotland and sailed in Largs. It was an amazing location and a great place to sail and we had a real mix of weather over the week.

Over the first couple of days we had light winds, which suited me especially as the first six races of the Nationals count towards the IOCA rolling rankings. I had some great races including a 3rd, 5th and 11th. We had 117 boats racing in the Junior Main fleet so the starts were pretty hectic and important to get right. Most of mine were good and I seemed to have great upwind speed. 

I had a bit of a problem on the second day in one of the races when I got penalised by the jury on the start line for sculling and had to do a 720 turn just before the start. It meant I started almost last but I managed to fight my way through to finish 41st. It was a result that I could have done without having to carry at the end of the week, but I asked the jury to explain what I had done wrong so learnt something from it and won't be doing it again - at least not when the jury is watching!!

On the third day we had medium winds and great racing and I was lying inside the top 10. Then the weather decided to change. Thursday and Friday got really windy with big choppy waves and I really had a struggle. In the first race on Thursday I thought I had done really badly and got a bit upset. In the end I had finished mid fleet so it wasn't so bad.  I got a 35th in one of the windy races which I was pretty pleased with. Going up wind was quite a struggle and I seemed to be taking on board water faster than I could bail it out. Going down wind was so fast, fun and a bit scary all at the same time. 

I had a couple of races which I didn't get a result in because of the strong winds so in the end slipped down to finish 22nd. Out of 117 boats and my first time in the main fleet in the Nationals it was a good result but I had hoped to do better so was a bit disappointed but learnt loads.

My results in the first six races also mean I am ranked 8th in the country in the rolling rankings which is amazing.

The mix of weather we had meant I got to use all of my new Crewsaver kit. It's fantastic especially the thermal leggings and top and I have a bouyancy aid and hikers that really fit me properly. Yay.

My sister Freya also took part in the Nationals for the first time in the mini racers. It was great to see her out sailing and she had a great time. She was very proud of her medal and Optimist Grade 1 badge that she got.

Largs was a long way away but as we were helping by taking the Volvo cars trailer we got to use one of their XC60s which was awesome and made the journey much more comfy. We still seemed to be surrounded by stuff though!

Although Largs is a fair distance away it was a lovely place to sail in.  Amazing views of the mountains in the background and it had hundreds of jelly fish. Actually millions of jelly fish. We also saw some dolphins but while we in the car and not by our boats sadly. Largs also has the most epic ice cream shop. So I definitely don't mind going back there to sail.

Next event is the Irish Nationals which starts tomorrow. Busy training with the British Team at the moment so more on this event soon.