This years Leiter Cup was full of lasting memories. This regatta has always been my favorite because all the girls form a special connection. At the Ida Lewis Regatta, the same format but in C420s, everyone has their crew or skipper to talk to which does not necessarily make for the best bonding of the girls. At Leiter everyone is on their own although some may know each other from previous years there are so many people you can meet and they end up being great friends. Everyone at this regatta plays fair – there was not a single protest in the whole three days of racing.
This year the regatta was held at Sail Sand Point in Seattle, Washington. Lake Washington was beautiful and you could see Mount Rainier towering above the lake when you were sailing. On Lake Washington a southerly breeze holds in the morning and typically locals expect the northerly to fill in around noon at a stronger velocity. Around the time when we were sailing the northerly was expected to fill in. The first day, clinic day one, was a very light northerly getting up to about 5 knots max. I was one of the bigger girls at the event competing against tiny 100 pound girls who blew by me on the downwind. The second clinic day was also extremely light coming from the North. The max wind we had that day was around 4 knots, again the small girls were killing it in this wind and I was in the top mid-fleet with the girl who ended up winning the regatta. After these two light days I was skeptical about how I would do in the regatta considering it was hard to predict what the wind would do.
Day three of Leiter, the regatta was beginning, they had postponed what time we had to arrive since the breeze would be unsteady until noon. The breeze was light and I ended the day with a third place finish putting me in 9th overall. The second day the wind never changed to a northerly and it was shifty and a major “tack on any shift” day. In the second race of the day we had a “tornado puff” as we liked to call it- a tiny 25 knot puff that rolled down the course on the downwind causing everyone to capsize. After having a not too great second regatta day I was in 10th ending the day. I was super motivated to move up considering I had gotten 11th the previous year and I didn’t want to move back in the rankings. The last day my Dad came to watch me race after doing some business in Seattle. I hadn’t seen him in 3 weeks because I was traveling so much for sailing- I was so excited to see him. The last day was again a southern breeze and I was consistently at the top and moved up to 8th ending the regatta. I had a ton of fun and look forward to sailing this regatta next year and seeing all the great friends I made again. It was a bittersweet ending because it was the last Leiter for many of my closest friends but I know it will be great to see them in a few years in college. I would like to thank the San Diego Yacht Club competition fund for helping me get to this great regatta and making it the best Leiter so far!