GERMANY --> POLAND --> ITALY --> DENMARK --> HOME
The first trip included 3 regattas and a large amount of training. Kiel week was a very windy event with only 3 days of racing. Unfortunately with such a small series a Black Flag on day 1 was very costly overall leaving me in 20th out of 76 boats. From this regatta I was able to see some improvements in speed and tactical decision making from 2017, my best results being a 4th and 6th against top Radial sailors in the fleet. The gold fleet quickly reminded me just how critical each cross is in big fleet racing as well as how important the start is. A huge highlight of my time in Kiel was watching Zac Littlewood (my RFBYC training partner since 2014 in the 4.7) take out the Open Men’s Radial World Championship. I was so happy to see him rewarded for all of his hard work and determination. Next up was a long drive from Kiel, Germany to Poland for the U21 world championship. I felt fast, confident and in control. I ended up finishing 5th out of 65 boats. For me this was very disappointing after leading the event up until day 5 of 6, the conditions had changed in the last few days and I didn’t quite get in sync applying far too much risk and struggling to get off the start line. 3 months later I am still kicking myself at some of those decisions but that is Sailing and I will use this feeling to fuel me over the next few months. A short trip to Lake Garda was certainly enough to pick me up and off we headed to the 2018 Aarhus World Sailing Championships. I remember Perth 2011 being big but being an Athlete at this event was a totally new experience. Having the range of classes around and the whole Australian Sailing Team support system was very uplifting. The racing was another level- 120 boats all at their peak to make a point that they are a force for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. As expected this was the hardest racing I have ever done, it exposed my weaknesses faster than I would have ever imagined. I ticked off a big goal of mine cracking the gold fleet and posting a couple of top 5 results in qualifying. Again I couldn’t find my feet in the gold fleet which lead me to drop to 43rd overall.
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May 2019
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