SPRING 2006 < back >
May 28, 2006:It's been a long week here in Medemblik, Holland for the Holland Regatta. As we drove up from Austria the temperatures just kept on dropping, giving us a week of cold spring days. It was 8-13degrees for the most part, and rainy. The night before the start of the regatta I joked that we could go sailing at 9pm because it was still so light outside. Well, sure enough, the next day was very windy and they kept us on postponement....all day, until they finally sent us out for a 7:30pm start. We got one race in and then they tried to start us again at 9pm. The wind was dying, the sun was lowering on the horizon and we still had to sail home, when they finally abandoned the race and sent us in. Arriving at the beach at 10pm was a first for me and made for a very late night.
I finished 27th overall. I had some issues with my board. I wasn't able to keep a lane on starboard tack and I felt like I was dragging a bucket behind me. This didn't leave me many options tactically, but at the end of the day, I was still mid-fleet in a few races. My pumping technique is lacking and when I eventually sort that out, along with
lots of the other mistakes that I make here and there, hopefully my results will improve.
The final race of the regatta was yesterday. The top 10 sailed the medal race on a separate course and the rest of the fleet had their final race on another course. Our course was quite far away and with an offshore breeze of 20-25knots, it made for some big waves and hold on downwind racing. I was 4th and 5th going around most of the race until the very end where I lost some boards and finished 8th.
Now it's off to Turkey for the Europeans for some warmth. I thought this day would never come.....
May 20, 2006: For the past 2 weeks I was at Lake Neusiedl, Austria for the World Sailing Games. These Games only happen every 4 years and include 10 one design sailing classes. Sponsored by Mercedes-Benz and Austrian Wind Power, this event drew over 700 competitors from over 64 nations. Our equipment was all supplied to us so that everyone would be on an even playing field. There were 4 different venues around Lake Neusiedl, Europe's largest "shallow" lake (it was never deeper than shoulder height anywhere), it is 11km wide at it's widest, 32km long and is partially salted (4%). The colour of the lake was like coffee...we called it "Lake Cappuccino". I was staying in the small town of Breitenbrunn, near the windsurfing sailing site.
The World Sailing Games was like having two regattas in one. The first week was a qualifying regatta to see which girls would advance to the final "gold" fleet, which was to be sailed in the second week. The gold fleet would include the top 10 of the world ranking list which were invited to the regatta and didn't need to qualify. Since there were only 27 girls total, there was enough equipment that we could all sail in one fleet, so after all the qualification series was finished we learned that we would sail as one group anyway, so really it was just good racing practice. The winds that we experienced here on Lake Neusiedl were extreme...either really windy or nothing at all, which meant for some long days waiting on shore for the wind to fill in. One day we waited around from 9:30am until we were finally sent out racing at 5:30pm, only to return to shore past 8pm. Needless to say, that made for a pretty late night.
I finished 17th overall. I was disappointed with some of my race results, but when I put it into perspective of whom I'm racing (the world's best) and how long I've been on the board, I am proud of my accomplishments so far and believe in my ability to get better and become one of the top girls. I am on a huge learning curve and have a lot still to learn.
My highlight of the regatta was on the windy day. It was 22-25 knots possibly gusting to 30. I had great speed, technique and guts, especially on the downwinds, posting a 5th and a 3rd!!! Racing was pretty full on.
All in all, for me the regatta was great. I sailed 16 races, made many mistakes and learned huge lessons. The windsurfing racing is so different from the sailboat racing that I did in the 470's that I'm finding that I must relearn and experience many lessons all over again "windsurfer style".
My next regatta is the Holland Regatta which starts on the 24th of May in Medemblik, Holland. Most probably cold and windy......Brrrrr.
April 29, 2006: Arriving in Hyeres after a 20hour drive from Amsterdam, after a flight from Vancouver, I was pretty tired. Then there was a bit of a mix up with Dan’s flight, who I was meeting in Amsterdam so we got a day behind schedule. We got to Hyeres the day before the practice race, so only one day to put my board together, register and get settled into our new accommodation.
Having taken more than a month off of training, I was in for a bit of a challenge. The first day was light air and I struggled to get back on the board. Then that night I got a bout of food poisoning, which left me completely drained for the 3 windy races the next day. That day wasn’t so good for me as those are the conditions that I revel in, but my body and mind just could not compete. The third day was once again windy with some big waves. Feeling a bit better I was able to actually be in the race. I had some good mark roundings but kept falling back, posting a 15th as my best result of the day. Unfortunately the rest of the regatta didn’t see much wind and we were waiting on shore for a long time. Day 4 had us waiting till 4pm before they sent us out, tried to start us without much luck, just to send us back to shore. The fifth day of racing was the last for anyone that wasn’t in the top 10. This is the new Olympic format, in which only the top 10 have a final “medal” race on the last day. It was a very light air race and although I made many mistakes and got a horrible start I was in the mix although my result didn’t show that. I finished 40th overall of 49. Not the result I was aiming at but with all that happened at the beginning of the regatta, my many mistakes and it being my first time on the board again after a break, I think it’s a good start. At least I was mixing it up with the best of them in some of the races, so that’s a start in the right direction.
Now I am in Split, Croatia for a week of training before I head to Austria for the ISAF World Sailing Games.
Keep tuned…my results will only get better!!!
March 24, 2006: Home sweet Home! After 4 months away it is so great to be back in Vancouver. A bit colder and a bit more rain than New Zealand's summer, but it's home and familiar. I am doing dry-land training and once it warms up a bit I will get out on the windsurfer for some training too. Until then I am organizing my next trip and catching up on all that I have missed here in this winter.
The last 4 months have been vital in gaining the experience I need so that I feel well prepared for the start of the European season. I logged many hours of on the water sailing, getting into windsurf shape and working on my technique. After all that training I am quite excited about my upcoming trip to Europe, a chance to see my improvement against the rest of the world. I begin my European Circuit mid-April with the French Olympic Sailing Week in Hyeres, France. From there I head to Lake Neusiedl in Austria for the ISAF World Sailing Games, and then to the Holland Regatta in Medemblik, Holland. Finally in early June I get to head south to Alacati, Turkey where the RSX Europeans will be held. After six weeks in cold Europe, Alacati, a well-renowned windsurfing mecca in Turkey, will be an inviting change!
I'll keep you posted more once the excitement of the races start.
