June 22 though the 27, my crew (Grace McCarthy) and I (Molly Pleskus) traveled to the 2013 U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship for the Ida Lewis Trophy at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. The regatta consisted of two clinic days followed by a three-day regatta, all with U.S. Sailing selected coaches, along with evening talks from successful women sailors (like our very own JJ Fetter). The boats sailed were C420s in the ocean off of Newport Harbor. Grace and I came into this event with little confidence and much less experience, looking for a means to improve, compete and build friendships with sailors from across the United States.
The week provided a wide variety of sailing conditions and vast improvements for our team. Seeing conditions from drifting in 2-3 knots, to moderate trapping in 10-12 we easily identified our many strengths and weaknesses. We learned that wind and trapping in waves is not our strong point, but we can be fast and smart as long as we get off the line decently in more moderate breeze. As the week progressed our team dynamics, as well as our confidence, steadily improved earning our top half finish of 19th place out of 39 teams. We recognize that we could have done much better by ironing out a few mistakes, getting better starts, and working on improving our boat feel, but are very happy with our finish and proud of how far we came in such a short time. On behalf our team I would like to express our gratitude to the San Diego Yacht Club Competition fund and membership for extending this opportunity for young women to better themselves in the sport of sailing by competing with and helping their fellow competitors on the water and friends off. I am truly thankful for the amazing opportunities presented to me by the San Diego Yacht Club, and I hope to represent our yacht club again at the Ida Lewis regatta next year as well.
Thank You,
Molly Pleskus and Grace McCarthy
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