In July, we got the chance to travel to The Hague in the Netherlands to represent the US for a second time at the Youth World Sailing Champoionships. We had hoped that this event would have a predominantly strong breeze that is typical in the area but, in typical regatta fashion, once we arrived on site, the conditions changed to something out of the norm. Throughout the regatta, only one day was raced in wind in the teens. This was also our first time racing in strong current, up to 2 knots at some points. This added a lot of new elements to the racing that we have never had to deal with to such a large extent.
The first day of racing was the first time that we were starting in a very strong current and our starts weren’t the best. It was very hard to identify the pattern of the wind and what shift to sail through and which to tack on. Our first three races went okay and it put us in a position where if we just went out and got top five finishes, we would be looking very good for medaling.
The next two days of racing were about the same, we would be sailing well, then make one small mistake or misread a shift and that would send us towards the back of the fleet. The wind was light enough and there was enough chop that we could not “boat speed” out of tough situations. There was also a wind pattern that we were not used to. In San Diego and much of Southern California, we get short oscillating winds. In The Hague, we had long oscillations that took almost a whole leg to shift. It made it feel like the wind would randomly shift one way or another and it took us a while to identify the pattern puting us behind the curve compared to those who have sailed in those conditions before. Slowly, we were making small improvements in dealing with current and understanding the wind better.
Day 4 was our day, the wind had built to around 12-15 knots and being one of the biggest teams at the event, we knew that no one would be as fast as us. It was crazy how fast we were compared to the other boats. All we needed to do was get off the line clean and rip. In the two races where we had good starts, we shot to the front of the fleet and stayed there getting a 1 and 2. That was our best score line of the regatta and moved us up from 12 place to 7th place in the standings with 6th only a few points ahead. Once we got into the harbor, one of the coolest things happened, and is something we will remember for the rest of our lives. While waiting for the ramp to clear of Lasers, we had three of four of the other top teams at the event come up to us and comment on how fast we were in the breeze and the waves. That recognition from other sailors of our speed was a very special moment.
The final race on the last day was back to light wind. But, with the wind going with current, the ocean was extremely flat. We spent our time on the water before racing focusing on what the wind was doing. We were able to determine that the wind was oscillating through about a 15 degree window and the shifts lasted 2-3 minutes. Sadly, at the start the wind changed into a persistent left shift and we got caught out at the boat end of the line and were instantly behind. We sailed a decent first upwind and were able to pass 6 boats. After playing the shifts down wind, we were able to pass a group of five boats by the first downwind mark. Finally, a smartly sailed second upwind put us into the top ten and ahead of the boats that we needed to beat, moving us up to sixth overall at the end of the regatta.
Even though the regatta results did not go exactly the way we wanted it to go, it is going to be one of the most memorable regattas of our life. Every part of it, from biking along the beach to get to and from the harbor to playing cards with the rest of the Youth Worlds team team was special. The people we met and the memories that we made will stick with us for the rest of our lives.
Thank you, SDYC, for your support, which has helped us to represent the United States.