This August I sailed three regattas in a row in Kingston, Ontario. The three regattas being: Laser Canadian Championships, CORK Internationals, and CORK Olympic Classes Regatta. The Olympic Classes Regatta was the longest with 5 days of racing, but had the smallest radial fleet with only 6 boats. The second largest regatta was the Laser Canadian Championships with about 68 boats and 3 days of racing. Finally, the largest regatta was the CORK Internationals with a total of 135 boats. To get to the regatta we drove 40 hours across the United States, and when we got there we were greeted by an attractive city next to the water. The launch site was a beautiful place with Queen’s College right beside it.
The first regatta was the Laser Canadian Championships.It was 3 days of anywhere from 7 to 16 knots of sailing. The first day was pretty light and I had a pretty decent day with 2 good races in the beginning of the day. One race I came back from the back of the pack and that felt pretty good. The second day was very bad. We went out and were postponed for about 1 hour. Then, suddenly the breeze came up to about 16 knots and it became the windiest day of the regatta. The first race was not good and I ended up around 28th because of a bad start. The second race was bad because a boat hit me at the start and basically took me out of that race. The final race was even worse because of an overall bad race and became my throw-out. The final day was a bit better than the day before. I sailed upwind next to my coach and he gave me a lot of good tips on how to sail well in a strong breeze. That helped me have a little bit of a better day. It was about 16 knots again and because of his tips I was able to perform a lot better. I finished the regatta in 22nd place out of 68 boats. I was disappointed in my overall results, so I knew I had to pull it together for the next regatta.
The next regatta had the largest number of boats, and I knew I needed to pull it together after the Canadian Championships. The first two days were the qualifiers and we were split into 3 fleets randomly. I was in yellow the first day out of the three colors: yellow, blue, and red. It was a difficult fleet but I was able to do well in the light shifty conditions. I ended the day with all top ten finishes and I felt pretty good. The second day I was in red fleet and it was windier. I finished pretty good that day too with all top ten places but I was angry because I was in third place in the last race until I capsized.
On the third day we were separated into flights. I made it into gold fleet with the other top 45 boats. It was a lot more difficult that the qualifier and it was also it was a lot lighter and shiftier. The first race was out of a whole new direction and super shifty. I was able to have a very good start and an overall good race and finished in 9th place. The next race the wind shifter far right when the left was favored the last race. I was on the left and I rounded the windward mark in about 20th place. Unfortunately, the wind died and the race committee did not abandon the race. I finished the race in 39th race and it became my throw out. We started another race and I was in 3rd place but the wind died and they abandoned the race and we went in. The final day had almost no breeze. We went out and sailed one race in 6 knots. I went left because the wind usually goes left when the breeze is coming from the land. It went right and I was in about 20th around the windward mark. Then I made it my goal to pass boats and I passed 10 boats upwind and downwind and finished in 10th place. I was very happy that I was able to pass so many boats. We went in cause of no breeze and I finished the regatta in 13th place out of 135 boats. I was happy and proud of myself that I was able to pull it together after the last regatta.
The final regatta was the Olympic Classes Regatta that was dominated by full rigs. There were only 6 boats in my radial fleet, but it was still not easy. There was a sailor from Bermuda who sailed Radial Youth Worlds and also a girl who won Laser Canadian Championships. The first day was pretty windy and we only did 2 races because there was a storm coming towards the race course. I won the first race and got second the next. The second day was still windy but more up and down, and I had a bad race where I just was unable to catch up to the fleet when I just got a little bit behind. The next day I was a little better with two second places keeping it really tight against the sailor from Bermuda. The fourth day was a bit lighter at 14 knots and I sailed ok with mostly 3rd places. The final day was the craziest day with wind from 17 to 27 knots. In the first race and second race the wind was blowing about 17 knots. At the end of the second race the breeze came up to 22 knots. We were postponed for a while, and while we were waiting there were 25 knot puffs rolling down. After an hour, it began to rain and we went in. I finished in 2nd place and felt like I learned a lot.
It was a long 15 days and I would like to thank the San Diego Yacht Club Competition fund for helping me sail these regattas.