This month I went to Toms River, New Jersey to compete in the 2024 Waszp Atlantic Coast Championships. The competition was intense and very high, with the majority of the competitors having world and national titles.
When I arrived the first day, I put together the charter boat that was given to me from the SailGP Inspire Program. While in the boat park, I met some sailors from Hawaii and the America One Racing Team who invited me to train with them that day. Once we got our boats rigged and ready, we all headed out for a nice 12 kt session.
The second day, we headed out together along with some more boats that were competing in the regatta and had some great drills and practice races run by some of the WeCanFoil Coaches. Finally after a great two days of warmups and training, it was our first day of racing. It was insanely windy, with huge puffs that I have not experienced before. But I made the most of it and while it was hard for boat handling, I was proud of my upwind and downwind speed compared to the rest of the fleet.
The second day of racing the wind was more manageable and I focused on improving the amount of windward heel I could keep on the upwinds. On the third and final day the wind picked up again but this time I was ready and was able to get some good gybes and tacks in!
Thanks to all of the more experienced kids in the fleet, I brought home so much new information on tuning my boat and preparing myself for extreme conditions. It was very different how the courses and the racing environment was compared to regattas I have done in the past. It was an amazing learning opportunity and I can’t wait to compete for my next waszp regatta, 2024 Pacific Coast Championships! Thank you to San Diego Yacht Club for all of the support!