Au Revoir à Hyères
After our last training session in Marseille, we packed up our bags, loaded all the gear into the coach boat, and drove to Hyeres. It was a gorgeous drive through the mountains but by the time we got to Hyeres it was dark. We checked into our Airbnb, got crepes for dinner, and went to sleep. The next day we went to the regatta venue which was a large tent on a beach. We rigged the gear and went out for a short training session. We worked on regatta preparation which included some line-ups, maneuvers, and starts. The next two days were light wind, and we were definitely feeling the fact that we were nearing the end of our 5-week training block. Furthermore, with the regatta starting in two days we decided to take two rest days to be fully prepared mentally, physically, and with our equipment.
The first two days of the regatta we were once again faced with the strong Mistral breeze (if you missed my Marseille blog, go check it out to learn all about the famous Mistral!). This was my first-time racing in over 25 knots of breeze so there was a lot to learn. When it is that windy, half of the race is just to not drop the sail or fall in the water! The first day we did 5 races, and I had a good first two races. I would round the upwind mark in the top five and manage to hold the rest of the race. The last three races, I was still having fast upwinds but was struggling to find speed and to not fall on the downwinds and it showed in my results. The second day was even windier and the first race I was practically unable to sail. I had a good first upwind but when it came time to go downwind it was consistently 30 knots with 35 knot gusts. When it’s that windy and gusty it’s super challenging for me to not let the power of the wind pull me down into the water, and unfortunately, it happened a lot that race. It was a fight just to finish sailing around the marks and the competition wasn’t a focus for the race at all. After the race, I was extremely tired and overwhelmed from the super tough conditions. Luckily, the race committee recognized this and switched where we were racing to where there was slightly less wind. This saved the rest of my day and allowed me to get back on the starting lines and once again focus on going fast with the other girls. We eventually did 5 races that day and it took 5 hours, probably the longest I’ve ever been out in consistently above 25 knots-even in practice!
After the first two days, the wind conditions did a complete 180°. In fact, we couldn’t even race the third day due to lack of wind and sharing a course area with another fleet. Unfortunately, at these multi-class regattas (AKA regattas where multiple of the different Olympic sailing boats and boards are racing) the race committee is usually balancing multiple fleets and since it was too windy for many of the boats to race the first two days, we were a low priority. Luckily, the fourth day we were up first to race and there was wind! We did 2 slalom races in 10-12 knots in which I felt very fast on the reach and managed to connect the dots for pretty good results overall. Then the wind lessened a bit to 7-9 for the last three races and I struggled to be consistent on my starts and maneuvers. On the third race, the spectator boat for the regatta was stopped right next to our last gybe mark; it was super bizarre to have people cheering for us as it’s typically not a spectator sport!
The last day of the event brought a lot of waiting and unfortunately, after over 9 hours, no racing. Once again there was light breeze and other classes that the race committee decided to prioritize due to the iQFOiL class having completed the most races. Therefore, after the race committee officially called racing for the day, we packed up all our gear and I prepped to fly back to the US with my gear. We ended up going for a gorgeous sunset hike which was the perfect way to end our trip in Hyeres.
I am now currently on an overnight layover in Istanbul (I know, not in the right direction to the US from France, but it was a much cheaper flight!) on my way back to Tampa for some time with family and more training. This time in Europe was not only a great learning experience on the water but really helped identify the biggest areas of my racing that I can improve. This is invaluable knowledge as it allows for my training to be more focused and for faster improvement. Overall, Hyeres was a great event. It showed me what my biggest strengths and weaknesses are, pushed my comfort zone, and taught me countless lessons.
