GoPro Sailing from Freezing in Farmoor

No sailing for me at the weekend (NOT GOOD!) as I have my SATS exams at school this week (really NOT GOOD!!) so had to concentrate on them. This coming weekend I'm racing in the Optimist Inland Championships at Grafham Water. It's the first ranking event of the year so an important one.

Last year I won the Regatta fleet, this year I'm in the main fleet. There will be about 200 sailors competing so a big fleet. I can't wait.

As I didn't sail this weekend I thought I would put up a GroPro video my coach took of me when I was Zone Squad sailing in March. The weather that weekend was freezing. If you look closely at the kicker rope and boom you can see the ice!

I hope you like the video.

Selection Trials Day 4 - Turkey here we come!

The Optimist Selection Trials 2013 have been epic!

After a good third day I was really hoping to get a few more races in on the last day as the forecast was for light winds which meant I would stand a really good chance again.

When we woke up all we could here were fog horns. Despite the the fog we were still down at the Sailing Academy by 8.30am and ready to go so sailing by 9.45am only there was one problem - you couldn't see off the end of the slip way as the fog was so thick!


We had a postponement for ages. Eventually the sun came out at the Academy but the fog remained in Portland Harbour so the waiting continued. I chatted to the other sailors and kept on eating to pass the time but it seemed like forever. Eventually the fog cleared and we all got our boats ready at the waters edge. We still had to wait a bit for the wind to settle though and then just when we thought were about to go the fog started to come back.

At about 2.00pm in the afternoon they finally made the decision to abandon racing as the fog was still coming back. At first I was quite devastated because I thought I had just missed out on the team to go and race in Belgium.  My friends said that I might make it into Development Team but it was all a bit confusing and we didn't really know what was happening. They were announcing the sailors that the selectors wanted to see over the tannoy and my name wasn't read out which didn't help my mood. Because we weren't sure we waited anxiously listening to the speaker to see if I had been chosen. When they called out Development Team my name wasn't said. NOOO! I wasn't chosen. As we were just about to leave Dad got a phone call saying that the Selectors wanted to see me. I went up to the office with my Mum where they told us that they wanted me to be one of the eight sailors in the Development Team. YYEESS! 

Information about Development Team

• Its based in Bodrum, Turkey (so hot)
• We go on 27 May and come back on 3 June
• Its an International event( my first International event!)
• Its against some of the Worlds Teams from different countries!
• Its 15-20knots in 26-35 degrees! OMG!
• Water temperature is around 22 degrees! 
• The location is lovely!
• Our team are staying in a 5 star hotel!
• My parents aren't coming!

All I can say is: "I am SO EXCITED!"

On the awesometer this goes off the scale.

Me the rest of the Optimist Development Team
our coach and team leader

The Selections have been an amazing event. Really tough racing esepcially on Saturday. Really tough competition but I had some great results and a 2nd in one race so I know I can beat all the best sailors in the Country. I have learnt loads and had a great experience and now I get to go to Turkey which is going to be the best thing ever.

Selection Trials Day 3

Today was so much better.

As we are staying in a caravan just up the road for the Sailing Academy it's really easy to hear how windy it is when you wake up. Yesterday when I woke up it was howling and this morning it was all quiet. Phew. A better start to the day already.

Despite the difficult day on Saturday I felt quite excited and confident going out today as I knew I had a chance to get some better results.

It was a much better day wind wise, when we set off there was hardly any at all and we had to wait a while for the racing to get going but during the day it built up to around 10-12kts which is great for me.

As the winds were lighter we were racing outside of Portland Harbour in Weymouth Bay where the swell was pretty big.

The first race of the day was awesome. I had a great start and felt like I was sailing really fast. I went round the first windward mark in second place which is where I stayed for the rest of the race - a brilliant start to the day.

In the second race my start wasn't quite so good and I was in the middle of the fleet but I had good boat speed and going downwind I was able to overtake quite a few people to finish 26th which was OK.

Race three of the day wasn't so good. I had a bad start and couldn't get out of everyone's bad wind. I finished 40th and got a bit upset with myself about it so was determined to do better in the last race.

The fourth race of the day was another good one for me. I had a good start and was able to take over some of the really good national squad sailors and eventually finished 5th.

With two really good results today I climbed ten places in the leader board to be 30th overall. I came back to shore a much happier person than yesterday, that's for sure.

Some of the older sailors said some really nice things to me today about how well I was doing and how I managed to keep going yesterday which was really nice and made me feel a lot more confident.

To finish off a good day as it was my Dad's birthday and we went to the Crab House cafe where I had half a crab and chips for tea. Yum.

Optimist Selection Trials Day 2

Pants! Not the best day ever and the conditions certainly weren't in my favour.

Four races were scheduled for the the day and it was very windy all day. Average wind speeds were over 20kts for much of the day and it was gusting 30kts. Being so light weight that makes it very difficult for me and I was hiking and bailing all the time. No sooner had I bailed out than another wave came over the boat and I had to start all over again.

I found starting difficult in the conditions, getting stuck in irons at times and not being able to make pre start manoeuvres with enough control.

The really long beats in the strong winds were exhausting. I had let off loads of sprit which helped me to keep the boat flat but it was so difficult to keep the boat going fast through the waves.

Unfortunately I was at the back of the fleet for the first three races getting a 77, 62 and 63 but I had got round the course and stayed upright which was good.

I had a bit of a disaster sailing back down to the start area for race four, nose dived and capsized. Not the best thing to do. By the time I had got the boat back up right and bailed out I was totally exhausted and didn't make the final race of the day.

To add to the days problems I hit the pin end boat at the start of the first race of the day and forgot to do my 360 turn so had to retire from that race after we had finished.

Overall with one discard counting I'm in 40th place.

I was pretty sad and disappointed in the day, however, the next two days are forecast to be lighter winds so I am determined to go out and get some good results and climb the leader board again.

Optimist Selection Trials Day 1

My first day sailing at an Optimist Selection Trials. Wow what a day.

Thursday night we stayed at my Grandparents house which is about and hour and a bit away from Weymouth. Great Roast beef dinner, the perfect perpartion for the big event. Friday morning it was a quick blast down to Weymouth and arrived in good time for measurement and registration.

We got on the water at about 1045 in time for the first raced scheduled for 1200. I was very excited and quite nervous. I'm in a fleet of 78 boats and everyone around me is mostly national, intermediate or development squad sailors. Also I'm one of the youngest sailors and probably the smallest.

We had a nice breeze 12-15knts, which means flat hiking for me but not for most of the others! The starts were quite intimidating but mine were OK. The big thing about today was the size of the courses. They were huge, much larger than anything I've ever done before. Each race lasted about 1 hour and the up wind legs went on for ever. Down wind was great though and I was able to pick up places.

Friday my results were 11, 21, 35, 14 and I'm 18th overall so a pretty good start. It was great racing and I really enjoyed it and great to be up there mixing it with the national squad sailors. In one race I covered and overtook one of the sailors who went to the Worlds last year, that made me smile a lot.


Saturday the wind is forecast to be stronger and we might be racing out in Weymouth Bay so could be a tough day and might need my sail and best sail and bail techniques.

On the awesometer today was an 8/10,

When I sailed Iain Percy's Star

On Friday I will be competing in the Optimist Selection trials, a four day event at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy.

Sailing at the venue for the 2012 Olympics is amazing and I'm lucky that I have been there twice for Zone Squad training and once for the South Zone Championships last year.

The most awesome experience I've had in Weymouth so far though is the day I had a go at sailing with Iain Percy in his Star. Their boat was so much fun to sail!

In September 2008, we were at the Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth and I was very lucky because my Dad was Sponsorship Manager at Skandia and I got to meet lots of Olympic sailors. I had only been sailing on my own in an Optimist from August so to get a go at sailing with an Olympic gold medallist at to helm the Star was epic! Here's a photo of me sailing with Iain which I still look at for inspiration!

Me sailing with Iain Percy.

I've met Iain loads of times, the first time was when I was just a few weeks old at Cowes Week so Mum and Dad tell me but sailing with him was one of the best. I wouldn't mind getting a go on the Artemis AC45 next!!! I also took Iain into my school after the Beijing Olympics with his gold medal as my show and tell after the summer holidays - that was very cool too and my friends were so jealous that I got to wear his gold medal.

Hopefully the Selection Trials in Weymouth this weekend will be just as good.

RYA South Zone Squad final weekend

Sadly, last weekend was my last RYA South Zone Squad training session of the season. 

The Zone Squad has been awesome. I have learnt loads from the weekends and I will definitely miss going. I would like to say a very big thank you to my two coaches, Clare Hall and Tom Haynes and to all of the coaches! I feel a much better sailor now; mentally and physically and my techniques are a lot better. I can't wait for the Selection Trials and Inland Championships which are coming up soon to see how much I've improved and if I'm any faster. 

The other great thing about the Zone Squad is all the new friends I've made, we've all had a really good laugh together. Here is a photo of the whole Squad. We had to line up in size order so I am first (or last) on the left as I'm the smallest!

RYA South Zone Squad 2013

We have had six weekends of sailing in the Squad over the winter, most of which have been in freezing cold and windy conditions, so last weekend it was really great to be sailing in light winds and warm sunshine for a change. On the Sunday, I was even out of my drysuit and back in to wetsuit, hikers and shorty gloves. Roll on summer.

I also got to use my brand new North Sail's D Zero 6 for the first time. I've never had a brand new sail before. It was so crisp and a great shape and I definitely felt like I was sailing faster with it.

Next up is the Selection Trials, Dad says there is no pressure on me and its a great opportunity to get some experience for the future. I know what he means but I'll still be going out there to win!