On Thursday the 16th of February, my crew, Patrick Snow and I [Scott Sinks] traveled to Jensen Beach Florida to compete in the prestigious C420 Midwinters Regatta. Once we arrived to the hotel after a long flight we went to bed, anxious for the morning when we would set up our boat and go for a practice sail to test out the venue. Once we were at the sailing center we were accompanied by 85 other c420s, and began to prepare for what looked like a light air practice day.
The next day, the first day of the championship we headed back to the sailing center and began to prepare for what looked like a similar day to the practice day, flat water, wind 5-8 knots and short oscillations with the breeze. We started off the first day of the regatta with a 17,6,8,9,4. Not our best of finishes but with a long way until the regatta was over we were sitting in a strong position.
The second day, a windier day with the breeze around 15-20 with the occasional puff of 25 knots was a very fun, challenging day which truly tested a sailors skilI. The second day was a much better day for us. Scoring aI, 2, 22, 8, capsizing in the 3rd race (22) after being around 5th place in the race was very frustrating, both physically and mentally but we were able to bounce back with a respectable 8.
The final day of the regatta, we were standing in 5th place, a few points from 4 and with 1st place not out of reach. We went into the day as the "dark knight." With only three races scheduled we had our work cut out for us, because we wanted to win. We knew that nothing worse than a 1st was the proto call to achieve our goal. So we went out and won the first race! The next two races were a lot trickier, the wind had died down to around 9 knots, and the breeze had become more persistent rather than oscillating in the previous race. With a rough start and being forced to the not favored side of the course to avoid "bad air" we finished the race with a 17th. In the final race of the regatta we fought the whole race to do are very best, finishing with a 9th ending the regatta. We finished 6th out of the 85 boat fleet. It was an amazing experience, and I look forward to returning next year. We could not have done this without the San Diego Yacht Club Competition fund. Thanks!