After 16+ hours of travel across the equator, Randy Lake and I arrived in Algarrobo, Chile to compete in the Snipe Western Hemisphere and Asians. With only a few days in the boat, I was nervous but itching to get sailing. Unfortunately, the wind did not share the same urgency, as we had to wait a day and a half to get on the water. After a short day of practice, we were ready to start the 5-day event.
This 40-boat fleet is unlike most I have sailed against, with every single boat exceptionally fast and smart, making the difference between the front and back minuscule. Randy explained that for much of South America, their equivalent of our high school sailing is Snipes in the Ocean after school. This showed as all of the junior and adult sailors were extremely fast. Another unique quality of this snipe fleet is how kind and genuine everyone is. Despite the very real language barrier, everyone was more than willing to give help, tuning advice, translations, and make small talk. It was an incredible thing to feel like everyone was a friend on the water and onshore.
As racing was scheduled to begin, the wind was in no hurry to corroborate. Each day started with a postponement that lasted anywhere from 30 minutes to all day. When we finally got on the water, we were quick to speed test and check the starting line, urgent to know more than our competitors. For most of the races, the starting line was extremely skewed, making the boat end of the line farther upwind. At the same time, the left side of the course was vastly favored, allowing boats at the pin to still end up at the front of the fleet. This meant it was imperative to be able to hold your lane for minutes off the line, even until the port layline. One pivotal decision was deciding where to tack as the fleet began to stack up near and over the port layline. Here, there were possibilities for huge gains or losses on the inside or far outside track.
Thick fog, short chop, lines of kelp, large jellyfish, light air, and a tremendously competitive fleet challenged us every day. Sailing back to the dock in the clear water, next to Humboldt penguins, otters, and other sea life was a beautiful experience. Many nights we would walk into town and debrief with the other US teams over fresh locally caught fish. With many lessons learned, Randy and I were happy to come home with an 8th-place trophy, and lots of pleasant memories. I look forward to continuing my snipe sailing, especially after realizing the strength of the international Snipe fleet, and encourage other juniors to do so as well.