Florida US Open Sailing Series Events
These two regattas over the past 5 weeks have been some of the toughest but most developmental weeks of my campaign. Having just come off of a semester of school and therefore no windsurfing, I didn’t feel completely ready for the regattas. I found myself shaking off rust only days before the Miami event. Not only was this challenging because it was harder to get around the race course quickly but also because it was mentally challenging to feel unprepared for such an important event. Regardless, I hit the racecourse and finished the regatta in 5th. The first day of the event was windy and flat, my favorite conditions. However, the cards never landed in my favor. I hit plastic bags during the races causing me to crash and even started too early because I had to avoid a manatee! The biggest takeaway for me from the day was my ability to stay positive through the adversity which allowed me to get a 2nd in the last race of the day when things finally went my way. The last two days of the regatta presented light wind which is not my strong suit and therefore I didn’t find the results I was looking for. I am also very pleased that I feel my light wind abilities improved in the week I trained prior to the regatta. Overall, I learned a lot at the Miami US Open Sailing Series and feel that I continue to push my level every hour on the kit.
During the week between the two regattas, I fell during a tack and kicked the foil. The foil is sharp like a knife and I cut my toe very deep. I ended up getting up 6 stitches and had to be on crutches for 7 days. This left me only two days before the Clearwater regatta to be able to put pressure on the toe. This presented another huge setback for my performance at the regatta. Luckily, the cut healed well during the 7 days and I was able to get my stitches out on time. Unfortunately, my toe was still in a lot of pain during the regatta which certainly impacted my results.
The first day of the regatta was called off due to too little wind and the second day was called off due to low visibility and high winds and big swell. We finally got to race on Day 3 of the regatta and were presented with perfect conditions. We did three course races in the morning and my toe was in. a lot of pain. We went in for lunch and. I tried to get myself mentally tough for what the afternoon held. Luckily, we did mainly slalom in the afternoon which hurt my toe less and I performed much better. I was especially pleased with this afternoon as slalom is one of my weaknesses so I was happy to see improvement. The last day of the regatta was incredibly light and we only got one race off. I was leading the entire race until I fell off the foil on the last gybe. I feel this race really represents these two regattas: a lot of promise but not quite being able to finish up the job. I finished the Clearwater US Open Sailing Series in 6th and am very excited about the training I have in the next couple of months!!
