Colorado!

Being out in Colorado is an amazing experience! I have just started to get used to living and being active at 9,000 plus feet. I worked out today for the first time and hope to do a large mountain climb on my bike tomorrow! It was a essential that I came out early for this competition because of the high altitude. The first day was brutal, the 10% oxygen kept me on the coach the entire day feeling like if I moved too fast I might lose my lunch.

Now though, I am going to start training on Lake Dillon, keep pushing my body to acclimate to the altitude and keep having fun in the endless activities that the Colorado Rockies have to offer!

District Champs/ New Program

Last weekend was the District 19 Championships at Gull Lake. This is a small lake near Kalamazoo, MI. When I arrived I realized I would be the only radial sailing against 25 other full rigs(meaning my sail was 33% smaller than everyone elses)... not the most exciting thing to think of at a small lake light air event. But since I was doing it for Grand Prix points and I was already there I decided to make a learning experience out of it. Since I knew I would be the slowest boat on the course the trick would be to do very smart sailing and catch every advantage possible!

The first race I was able to have a beautiful start and was able to hold out for fourth which I was pretty happy with considering. The next race I was able to get another very fast, clean start and was able to lead the race for two legs until I was over taken by two sailors on the second upwind. After these two races I had trouble getting nice starts and after it was hard to pick my perfect race to stay ahead of the full rigs. I also think people got irritated with the little sail beating them. Overall I finished 9th and won my fleet of course.

I have also lately taken some personal lessons on weight lifting for mass gain with a very knowledgeable guy at my gym. Just having completed my lessons I will work on gaining my goal of 15lbs by November in order for my body to peak at Midwinters East in February, 2011. I am very excited to start some new things and keep moving forward.

North Americans 2010

Coming home to the cooler weather of Michigan has been a very nice contrast to the Texas sauna! But down to the regatta. After the first day of racing I was in 10th place overall out of about 100 radials. Since that qualified me for gold fleet in the morning when I went to the club, checked the scores again, and saw over the night they had given me two black flags. This means the race committee thought I was over the line early with the black flag up which gives me the number of people sailing plus a couple points. Which means I was now in 59 bumping me back to Silver fleet.

I was very disappointed to say the least, it ruined my chances for placing above 50th and also I could not gather any grand prix points for this regatta. But I went out for the day, thinking that I might as well sail my best and learn what I could and I had a 1-2-1 on the day. I tried different starting techniques to not get called over the line and they payed off. I also learned some valuable strategy for all around racing. So what I got from North Americans was invaluable experience that I can carry on to all my future regattas.

North American Chamionship Day 2 Try 2

First a little background on this event. North Americans draws competitors from all across the world. I practiced with a guy from Malasia and aslo a group from Purue before the regatta even started to give you an idea. There are hundreds of top notch athletes competing here and it is a very prestigious, world ranked event.

This is the second day of North Americans, yet we are still to get a race down in the books. Yesterday was spent waiting on shore for the wind to steadily fill across the course till about 1400. This was when postponement was taken down and the 200+ at this regatta launched for the race course. After a few false starts on the full rig course and a couple more postponements the PRO(head race committe) decided to abandon for the day. Of course as soon as we were half way in the wind filled in for what could have been a nice day. However after a nice bike ride, some protein and yoga to recover I am well prepared for a long day today. The race committe has six races planned so it should be a full day! I am excited for the challenge!

Gulf Coast Championships

First of all Texas is HOTTT. I don't think ill ever fully adjust to the high 90s weather than Galveston has to offer every day. But thankfully I was well prepared with a full suit of white, gallons of water and accelerade, and way too much sunscreen.

Gulf Coast Championships was held Saturday and Sunday in the waters just off Seabrook sailing club. The one redeeming factor about this place is the sea breeze that fills in everyday around noon. So after checking in with race committe, they sent us out just around the time when the breeze was filling in... and the sun was the strongest. Overall the regatta went decently finishing 10th of 62, with one problem that I believe I have fixed over the past two sailing sessions.

I had serious trouble getting a clean start, and with a fleet of 62 a clean start makes about 80% of the race. So after races on Sunday I kept sailing, and all I practiced was acceleration which is what starting is. And yesterday I went out for three hours focusing whenever I could on starts and acceleration, joining in with other training groups on the water. By the end of the session I was feeling very confident with my starting capability. I will practice more today, and have a lay day tomorrow before North Americans start which should set me up very nicely to do my best at this major event.

TEXAS!

The past couple weeks have been full of finishing out my highschool duties, working, working out and preparing for the two events I will be competing in down in Texas. The trailer just got a couple new additions with some sweet storage boxes and really nice way of storing the dollies. It is going to make traveling this summer much more enjoyable! I have acquired an all white outfit including a fishing hat with neck flaps in preparation for the intense Texan sun. It will be something that I will have to take into account throughout the entirity of the two events, drinking more water and doing everything I can to stay cool.

The two events that are being held in Texas are first Gulf Coast Championships this Saturday and Sunday, and also North American Championships three days after, going from Thursday to Sunday. These are high class events that will be drawing competitors from all over the world. Both of these events are firsts for me and I am very excited to go test my fitness as well as the recently aquired skills from the clinics I have participated in this year! Check back in for updates as the regattas progress.

Crazy Days

Although my updates have stopped over the last few weeks my life has not! My last day of High School was friday, which felt amazing by the way. I hosted my Open House saturday which took an immense amount of preperation and energy. And last but not least after 12 years of playing I had my final piano recital yesterday. But back to saiing.

Besides working out I have managed to work in some training time. Over Memorial Day Weekend I drove out to Annapolis, Maryland for a training camp with the US Developmental Team. The conditions were rough to say the least. The amount of sailboats and motorboats that were out on the Cheasapeake Bay was incredible. With these large boats contantly traveling back and forth on all sides of us creating a washing machine effect and the wind being light and shifty we had some chanlenging conditions to deal with. However even those these are not great sailing conditions you must know how to sail in light wind and choppy waves. So with top notch coaches helping me learn how to sail as fast as possible, the weekend was a huge help for myself. Also the last day we were treated with 8- 12 knots and had some fun races to end the training session.