I would like start by thanking the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation for the continued support again this year.
I started the year at the ILCA 6 Australian Nationals in Adelaide, although the regatta did not go the way I was hoping, it provided me with a great opportunity to see what areas for growth I needed to focus on before heading overseas. The first of my two events that I attended was the 53rd Trofeo S.A.R Princesa Sofia Regatta in Mallorca, Spain. In the lead up to the regatta the bay experienced huge swell and winds making launching incredibly difficult due to having to launch through a shore break. I made the decision not to train as I did not want to risk breaking equipment or injury to myself. Based on footage I saw later that day it was the right decision. The first day of the regatta was a windy one with two races sailed in big swell and strong wind. Unfortunately, after good first upwinds in both races I had a couple of unforced errors which resulted in several capsizes which put me towards the back of the fleet. The next day was significantly lighter with another two races sailed. I focused on my processes and my starts improved providing consistent results. The final series of the regatta involved long days, partly due to being on thesame race area as the silver and bronze ILCA 7’s. The ILCA 7 fleets had lots of general recalls and that combined with a dying breeze it resulted in only one race sailed on day three and no races sailed on day four. The final day of the regatta the race committee swapped the starting order to allow the ILCA 6’s to start first and they moved the race course area which allowed two races to be competed. Overall, I finished 101 at my first world cup event. I learnt a lot at this regatta and had growth in key processes such as starting and strategies. I then headed home to get more time on water to work on what I had learnt and improve on the areas I identified as needing work before my second regatta of the year.
Originally, I was planning to do the UK nationals however, based upon advice and reconsideration I decided to head to Kiel, Germany for Kiel week. To say that the regatta did not go to plan is an understatement. After issues with booking flights, accommodation and the train I arrived in Kiel. I got straight into training and excited to be sailing on the Baltic Sea. Unfortunately, the next day I got sick with COVID, as a result I was unable to compete for the majority of the regatta. On the last day of the regatta I managed to get on water and completed three races. Even though I was not feeling 100% I sailed well and could see the gains I had made since my last regatta in both my starting and strategy. In all three of the races I rounded the first top mark in a strong position however struggled to maintain it for the remainder of the races. Overall, I placed 38th which I am happy with considering I only did 3 out of the 8 races.
These two overseas regattas have provided me with an opportunity to practice the skills I had been working on in training and applying them to a big regatta situation. The plan for the next six months is to stay in Perth and train and to compete at the 2025 ILCA Nationals in Queensland.