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

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
 

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.  

From summer to sailing in a storm

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

A bad day sailing is better than no (broken) sailing!

Ouch - no sailing :(

Over the last few weeks some of my racing has been a bit up and down for some reason. I've had some great results, good results and not so good ones. But even a bad days sailing is better than no sailing which is what I now have for the next 3 to 4 weeks or so as I've broken my collarbone!

More about that later but here's the sailing I've been doing. 

In my boat my Dad writes me messages. It started off when I was first learning to sail to remind me of stuff I had to do. Now for regattas we draw on the course and tide information etc. And then he also puts in comments about family jokes and song lyrics. 

When the Selection’s weren't going so well Dad went on about how when you fall off a bike or a horse you have to get straight back on and ride again to build up your confidence. So in my boat he wrote ‘It’s a horse. Giddy up’ 

This is all a bit weird but a couple of weeks after the Selection trials we had the Inland Championships, our first ranking event of the year, so I needed to do well. So Dad’s message made sense to me and the Inland Championships went really well. 

It was another windy event but flat water compared to the Selection Trials so the racing was great. We did six races in total, three on Saturday and three on Sunday and all my results were inside the top 10. Overall I came 6^th so was very happy with that and to be back sailing how I should be. It’s good to have bagged a solid ranking result too.

My prize picture

After the Inlands next up was some training at my home club, Gurnard SC, and then an open regatta at the Royal Victoria YC on the Isle of Wight. It made a nice change sailing at home and not have to get up early and catch ferries to get to an event. The open event was one day with a mixed fleet of non squad sailors up to national squad. It was a perfect sailing day with moderate breeze and sunshine. I won the event which was good as the prizes were excellent – trophy, limited edition print picture of the needles and a SailSpy UK Go-Pro t-shirt. We also all got a free garlic which was a bit random but makes sense if you live on the Isle of Wight!

The Royal Lymington YC open regatta came next. The first day was an epic windy Solent day. Winds up to 30kts and choppy seas. I had a blast and one of the days when my heavy wind technique felt really good and I got a 4, 14, 6 for the day’s three races. We stayed at my grandparents for the night which meant roast lamb, loads to eat and pancakes for breakfast.

On Sunday the conditions couldn't have been more opposite with almost no wind until mid afternoon. We had a couple of races in the super light stuff which were a bit of a lottery and saw some very dodgy tiller wagging and body pumping from some sailors. The first race I got the tides all wrong and came 19^th and then a 13^th. The third race of the day was in a sea breeze so really nice sailing and I came 7^th so finished up 10^th overall.

My sister Freya was also racing in the regatta fleet at Lymington and they used the same course as us. It was the first time ever that we've been sailing together at the same time. It was nice seeing her racing and when we finished we sailed back together which was awesome. Freya came 29^th in her fleet.

After Lymington we had a weekend off sailing to go the Isle of Wight Festival which was brilliant. Then last weekend it was back to sailing this time at the Hayling Island Open regatta. Over the two days my results were a bit mixed and not the best as I couldn't seem to get my strategy quite right. Saturday we had quite a gentle breeze and with the strong tides made things pretty tricky. There were crazy gains and losses being made by everyone. Sunday was pretty breezy again, we seem to be having a lot of windy events this year. I had a better day on the Sunday but a start line capsize didn't help in the first race. With a couple of shocker results and the rest OKish I finished 16^th overall so not my best regatta. Freya raced in the regatta fleet at 

Hayling too. She had her best result yet coming 23^rd with her best race being a 13. Unlike me she didn't capsize!

So it’s been a funny time results wise and all a bit up and down. I like the ups but not the downs so need to make sure I have more of the ups and understand what causes the downs.

Next up I was supposed to be going Nieuwpoortweek in Belgium from 4 – 8 July. I was one of the Team GBR sailors with 5 other boys. But on Friday I had an accident playing football at school which ended up with one of my friends falling on me a breaking my collarbone. Now I can't sail for 3 - 4 weeks. I think the pain of not going to Flanders and not sailing is worse than the break. I've got to take it easy and hope I'm better enough to race at the Nationals at the end of July. 

I've had loads of get well messages from so many people, Which means a lot so thank you everyone.

Braassemermeer & the Selections!

The Braassememermeer Optimist Easter event was amazing. It was fun, I did well and I made friends. The only thing that was missing was Mum. (She was working). 

Team GBR

It all started with another ferry to the mainland from the Isle of Wight and then a long drive once we crossed the Channel. Luckily though I had the car DVD so at least I was entertained. We took a while finding our holiday home park because when we arrived we didn't think we were in the right place as it was too posh. Having found our home for the week it was time to get a good night sleep for some windy sailing the next day. 

After a relaxed morning we headed down to the yacht club for some windy training but unfortunately it was a bit too windy and sailing was cancelled. So we headed back to our lodge and headed off to the beach. The sand was incredible! Because it was so windy the waves were gigantic. As well as chasing the waves we found and rescued a stranded fish washed up in the storm. 

The next day started early due to having no sailing the day before. Everything was done in an instant and soon enough we were out training. It was a lot windy than I expected so I had to make a lot rig adjustments. I didn't sail so well that day but one thing I did learn is that there can be some big waves on a lake! After debrief we headed back quickly and went straight to sleep ready for racing the next day. 

Morning dawned and nerves kicked in as the realisation of the day ahead came upon me. However the nerves were matched by excitement! It was around 10knts (perfect!) but I couldn't seem to get things quite right. I was being caught out by annoying shifts. Shifts (that day)= worst enemy. Only two races were completed in which I got a 38th (which became a discard) and a 13th. I wasn't really too pleased with the day but I put it behind me and focused on the next day. If I got a good night sleep I might be able to perform, that was what was in my mind. Like they always say; control the controllables.

The next day was definitely a lot better and I scored a 3,20,22,14, I was really proud and happy from the day because I realised that I was able to move on from bad days and treat every race like it was the first. Being able to do this is a great skill. Another advantage from having a good day is that you go home happy. A win win situation. 

When we go up on the next day it was very cold, around freezing, but to perk up our moods it was Easter Sunday!! Freya and I had a quick Easter egg hunt before heading down to the boat park. However the day didn't turn out to be the happy Easter day I wanted. I had a shocking day scoring 32,56, 29. The good news was that I knew what went wrong so I should hopefully be able to improve on it the next time. Despite the bad day I still managed to have a nice evening because we did another Easter egg hunt with Mum on facetime and we had a lovely dinner!

Going into the last day I was full of nerves however excited as well. Despite the day before I was still able to maintain a good position. The day favoured me with light winds so I gave it my all. I worked on my problems from yesterday and I was able to perform well  again getting a 17th. Overall I came 26th which I was happy with. It really proved to me that a bad day doesn't mean anything but I know I could have done better.

The Selections!!!!

I'm going to keep this short because there Is not much to say. The selections didn't go to plan for me. I came across nerves I had never felt before. TOP 14 TOP 14 TOP 14. That was all that was going through my had. I lost my self-belief. On the brighter side I gained a lot out of the event. 

The weather wasn't on my side either. The first two days were really windy, over 20kts and choppy seas. Me and all the light weight sailors really had a hard time making up wind progress. We then lost a day to fog so only had one day left and I was too far adrift to get a Worlds or Europeans place. On the last day I won the first race, which was great, then had two shockers and then another good one, a 6th. So all a bit up and down for me. I've been selected for the Flanders team and learnt a lot from the event which I can use in the future.

Bodrum International Optimist Regatta 2015

WOW! I've fallen in love with Turkey. In brief, the Bodrum International Optimist Regatta was one of the best events ever thanks to some great racing and great company.

It all started very early Tuesday morning at Gatwick when I was half asleep. We boarded our flight and woke up due to excitement.  After landing in Turkey we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us so we stopped to pick up some necessary resources including lots of crisps, oranges, olives, honey and salad dressing!  After eventually arriving in Bodrum we realised we had missed registration, the practice race and the opening ceremony!  But we had a whole jar of olives so we were OK. We checked into our accommodation and hit the hay ready to race the next day.  

Getting ready at Bodrum

After an early start we headed down to the sailing club and received our boats. Once again they weren't up to our usual standard!!  I had to contend with a slipping sprit, kicker and outhaul! We set out for a day in about 16 knots.  In the first race I got a 7th however my kicker snapped in the next race resulting in a 29th.  I then pulled back a 16th.  We then got lost on our way back to the hotel which resulted in an hour of driving when it should have been 15 minutes!  Dinner was incredible - our hotel provided us with an enormous buffet to feast on.  White coffee is my new favourite along with honey mixed with cucumber.  What has Turkey done to me?

The view from our room

We left early again the next morning predicting that we would get lost again which we did!  We followed a motor-bike down a one-way street, he then turned off onto the pavement and we were lost!  Eventually we arrived at the sailing club, only just beating the bus which left 15 minutes after us!  We had another delay in the morning again which gave us time to warm our our voices with some top quality singing! The day brought 16 knots again and I had a  4th and 17th. We then went back to the hotel where we had the best game of pool which resulted in lots of banterliscious moments!

We survived the Turkish bath!

The next day was very windy so we headed down to the yacht club.  As expected we had a delay in the morning so we weren't hopeful. All the sailors kept their sails in the hanger and because of an overload, sails were being knocked down and arguments could be heard. It got so bad a security guard had to be alerted so he was positioned on standby! After hours of waiting and hours of singing, sailing was finally cancelled for the day. We headed back to the hotel, quickly got changed out of our sailing kit and headed into town. We walked down to the front and met lots of stray dogs who followed us everywhere. We then went to a Turkish bath which was surprising to say the least. And we saw some interesting sights!  After a quick tour round the underwater museum which was massive and very interesting,  we then got a quick Ice cream before heading back to the hotel for some scrumptious dinner and hit the hay early for another windy day to be followed. 

We woke up to the same wind strength so once again our thoughts were that we wouldn't be sailing.   We had another delay in the morning however we occupied ourselves well with orange cricket and orange catch as we had excess oranges! The committee were desperate to sail so they sent the seniors out to test. It was very windy over 20kts so I didn't do as well as I hoped. I got two 47th and 40th. Not the best evening followed as well due to a headache and being very disappointed. 

A sailors lunch

We woke up the following day to  completely the opposite day - almost no wind, mine and William's favourite wind!  We had ANOTHER delay in the morning so once again we occupied ourselves with intense singing which I'm sure everyone loved! Thankfully we managed to launch however the racing for the day was unfortunately cancelled which upset me a bit. However I had to quickly get over that because we had a short deadline for the flight back. We all managed to completely strip our boats in about 5 minutes so we were off early for our 3 hour drive ahead of us. Luckily we left earl because we got lost on the way back which meant we were behind by about an hour. But the flight was delayed so it didn't matter. We all slept on the plane so it went very quickly and soon we were in England at back home (if you discard immigration!). 

Overall I came 36th. It was not the best ever result however I was still happy with the weeks racing. Along with Bermuda it was the best international event ever so far!

Thank you for 2014!

2014 was a brilliant year for me. I went to the European Championships, European team racing Championships, Braassermermeer, Bermuda and lots more! All of these events were a amazing experience for me and I'm very grateful that I could go. So I made a video saying thank you to you all. Here it it is:

It's been an awesome start to this year too. I've already been to Monaco for a team racing event and I'm off to Turkey again next week for the Bodrum International Optimist Regatta which I did in 2013 with the Development team. 

I wouldn't be able to do all this without the help from lots of people so thank you to:

• Crewsaver
• Royal London Yacht Club
• Sail Spy UK
• North Sails
• Nan Nan & G.D
• All my coaches
• My sailing friends
• My family

Thank you! 

Monaco Team Racing!

Hi all, sorry I haven't been able to post anything regularly but I will be soon uploading a thank you for the 2014 video so stay tuned for that. I've been doing some national squad training over the winter and was very lucky last weekend to be able to go to the team racing event at Monaco, so here's more about it.

Day 1

Day 1 and we got to see a Ferrari and the Formula 1 track which resulted in a lot of photos and posing! Eventually we found our way down to the yacht club which was a massive glass looking boat which was apparently worth 120 million euros and was donated by the Prince. After a bit of shock from the yacht club we all sorted out our supplied brand new boats! We then headed out to breakfast after once again taking in the sights of Rolls Royce's and super yachts!   Breakfast was very posh and we ate the best croissants in the history of croissants! We then headed back to yacht club for the opening ceremony and briefing before launching.  We had a great first day for the team.  We had a lovely sunny day with a fresh 15knts at midday but the wind unfortunately dropped towards the end of the day. We pretty well dominated the first race scoring a 1,2,3,7 with not much team racing. However we got slightly over confident and we were all over in the next race giving us maximum points. Yet we came back from it and won the next 3 races with some good team racing moves being put into practise. The next race however didn't go our way and we received some unfortunate penalties. But with our great team spirit we were able to pull back another race which resulted in an opponent crying! We were all very pleased with the day and we had a nice evening to top it off, having dinner at a restaurant. We had a quiet and relaxing evening as we were all very tired.

Day 2
The second wasn't the best as there was no wind which unfortunately resulted in 0 races for us today. We were all a bit annoyed in the morning as well as we woke up early! However once we knew that sailing was cancelled for the day we were able to do something with our day. We went ice skating which was a bit different from sailing to say the least and I think the team should stick to sailing! Due to no sailing we were in no rush to do anything so we all had an early night which was shown in our results the next day!

Day 3
Day 3 was an incredible day for the team as we ended up scoring 7 wins out of 8!! We had a sleep in (we had learnt from yesterday!) so we were all very awake and ready for a decent day. We had breakfast at the club which once again provided some amazing croissants! The wind was quite decent (about 12knts) however it was quite gusty as we were sailing in the harbour amongst all the super yachts! It was quite a solid day of racing so we didn't have much time in the evening. However our evening was entertained because dinner was held at the club and there was lots of activities to do included real - life table football! 

Day 4
Heading into the last day we were 3rd overall so we were in with a chance. However we weren't at our best and we lost to Russia in the quarter-finals which meant we were knocked out. Due to this we came 5th overall so we were all very disappointed. What made it even more disappointing as well was the fact that we beat Russia the day before 1,2,3,4 so we felt like we let each other down massively.  To add to our disappointment the team that won overall we beat in the round-robin :( It was still a great event despite the disappointment on the last day. We then had the prize giving before heading off to the airport.

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the event and who helped our team.Id also like to specially thank John Holloway and Simon Cook who made the event possible. It was a great event, a good experience and I would love to go back next year!

 

The Yacht Club

My brand new Charter Boat!

 

The row of super-yachts we passed everyday!

 

Rolls Royce

 

 

 

WOW!!!! BERMUDA is AWESOME :)

The crew

WOW! Bermuda is amazing!!!! The best trip I've ever been on!!! Before I start I would just like to make some thank you's. Thank you to David and Jenny Campbell-James for accompanying me on the flight there and back. Thank you to Dede Cooper for organising the event and making everything AWESOME!! A massive thank you to Mary, Rian, Fiachra and Caoilinn Geraghty for hosting me.  You guys made the trip the best ever!!! And last of all thank you to my Grandparents for their help, my Mum and Dad for doing all the stressing for me and last but not least IOCA UK for selecting me! Now on to Bermuda and the RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup - a day to day description on what happened.  ENJOY!!!



Monday- Flight day

Bye bye Britain

I was originally supposed to fly on Saturday but this was cancelled due to hurricane Gonzales but after much stress for Mum I was booked on the Monday flight. The flight was scheduled to leave at 3:00pm (UK TIME), so me and Dad caught the 10:00am Wightlink ferry. We arrived at the airport at 12am so had a quick lunch before David and Jenny arrived, then the goodbye's were said and we did all the check in and security stuff. Once on the plane we settled in to our seats ready for seven hours of boredom!! The sights were amazing leaving London. On-flight I watched Captain America 2 along with a load of Red Bull videos!! As arrival dawned we again got some amazing views. We arrived at about 7pm (Bermuda time, 11pm in UK) which meant I was very tired. I then met up with my host family (and Christian from Denmark who was staying with them as well) and went back to their house, which was shortly followed by bed. 



Tuesday- Training day
After a lovely sleep I was up by 7am ready to leave by 8am. It was a very rushed morning as I had to sort all my sailing kit for the day which happened to be at the bottom of my suitcase!! We dropped off Rian, Fiachra  and Caoilinn at school before me and Christian went down the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. It did feel a bit tough leaving the others at school while we went sailing!! I then did all my sorting out of the boat before all the internationally invited sailors (14 of us in total) headed out for some training. We did some boat speed work along with venue familiarisation oh and getting used to sailing in warm weather wearing only shorts and a rash vest!! Later on we were then joined by the local Bermudian sailors and did some practice starting with them. After sailing we then went to the beach. It was was lovely with massive waves that we had a great time playing in.

Wednesday- Training and Dinner day

Argo Gold Cup press conference

Wednesday brought some windier training in the morning, however, the day was stopped short due to a possible thunderstorm that might hit us. So instead the Yacht Club took all the international sailors sightseeing to see some caves, but sadly they were closed instead we had a game of football outside the town hall in St George which was closed. When we got back the the Yacht club the local sailors were out sailing, which was only fair as they had been at school all day. Everyone involved with the Junior Gold Cup and Argo Gold Cup had a meal at the Club . It was a great evening as we got to meet some of the pro sailors before doing the Gold Cup. 

Thursday- Racing Day 1
It was a slow start as we had a bit of a windy storm which resulted in a postponement of 3 hours. Luckily the wind dropped by lunchtime so we got two good races in light to medium winds. I got a 10th and a 6th which was OK,  however, I felt I could have done better and my mistakes were clear. After racing I had a chat with Iain Percy, which was really nice. It felt awesome to be chatting about the days sailing and results with one of the best sailors in the world. That night was an early to sleep one because the next day was going to be windy.

Friday- Racing Day 2

Me and Caoilinn chillin'

Friday was one hectic day!! 5 races in 17-20 knts! I got a 6th, 17th,9th,13th and 15th. This set of results was again OK but I dropped a few places overall. The 17th and the 15th were especially disappointing because I made some simple mistakes that dropped me the places and with the fleet being so good any mistake you made quickly cost places. But as it was such a windy day and with most of the other international sailors being a lot bigger and older than me overall I did a lot better in the breeze than I have before. 
Even so I went into the next day feeling determined! 

After racing we (my Bermudian family) went to a great restaurant in Hamilton for pizza and had a top night out.

Saturday- Racing Day 3

World's smallest
drawbridge

Saturday was a good day :) Light winds and hot!! I got a good 5th and a 6th before racing was cancelled for the day because the wind went completely, which was a real shame as I would have loved to carry on racing. But not to worry our family had a rib so we went out to see the reef and the shipwreck. The views were amazing, crystal clear water with colourful fish. We then came back in (after seeing turtles). We also saw the world's smallest drawbridge! There was another big party in the Club with Taco's for dinner. We really were very well looked after. Everyone stayed up that night because the briefing was at 11am the next day. So you can guess we had a fun night!!

Sunday- Final Day

A very relaxed morning lead to a very relaxed day. We headed down to the Yacht Club at about 10am. The tradition is 1 race in the harbour in front of a big crowd followed by watching the final of the Argo Group Gold Cup. The race was very tricky because the shifty winds and the mixed water form spectator boats. I had an amazing start, only to pick the wrong side of the course and went round the first windward mark 10th from last! Not ideal in front of a crowd! However I did a good recovery job to get a 7th which meant I finished 6th place overall. Given the level of competition from the international and local sailors I was really pleased with my final result. I just hope I get the chance to go back to Bermuda one day and do even better.

After our racing was finished, the family went out on the rib to watch the Gold Cup final. This was followed by the prize giving. My flight was that night so we had to head off early to the airport. 

It was an awesome week and event which is quite hard to put in words but if you are an optimist sailor and ever get the chance to go make sure you do.

Once again I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone. THANK YOU BERMUDA!!!!!