Dear MSSF,
Thank you so much for supporting my C420 trip to the east coast this summer. I really appreciate your help in making this experience possible for me. Here is a brief summary of my three week adventure in New Jersey and Massachusetts. 
After finishing third in the SCYYRA 2018 Junior Olympic festival at Mission Bay YC in San Diego, Morgan (my skipper) and I took a red-eye flight to compete in the C420 Nationals in Brant Beach, New Jersey. In Brant Beach, we met a group of sailors from PYSF and their coach, Udi Gal, whom we would be sailing with for the rest of our stay on the east coast. The first day of the regatta was quite windy, 18 –20 knots, and was the windiest Morgan and I have sailed together in a C420. Miraculously we managed to stay upright the whole day, and topped off the day with a 9th in the last race. Unfortunately the second day was a little tougher for Morgan and I, as we were BFD one of the races. However we still qualified for Gold flight. The last day of the regatta we sailed in Gold and ended the day with a 12, 5, 23. Overall the regatta was a great experience for us, finishing 27 out of 146 in our first of three regattas with over 100 boats.
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t the end of the C420 Nationals Morgan and I took a 6 hour drive up to Morgan’s grandparent’s house in Hyannis, Massachusetts, where we would stay for about a week, ending with the Hyannis Regatta. In Hyannis we met up with Wianno Yacht Club’s team and their coach, Brent Jansen, whom we spent three days practicing with. Lucky for us, we also met Tufts University coach, Ken Legler, who briefed us on the expected conditions for the Hyannis Regatta. The first day of Hyannis was tricky for us, as our starts were not very good. However, by the second day we figured out what went wrong and we were able to get off the line. Finally, the third day was extremely light and shifty, and we would do well until we would make a major mistake. Although we feel we could have done better, placing 32 out of 108 boats, this second regatta was extremely helpful for us in figuring out our starts and getting a better feel of these big fleet regattas.
For the third and final regatta, C420 North Americans, Morgan and I drove over to New Bedford where we stayed at a friend’s house. The first and second days of the regatta were a frustrating for us, as we would constantly make it around the weather mark in the top ten, but make a single mistake or get fouled, which would send us back to around 20th or 30th. For the third day, we qualified for gold, but unfortunately, there was a possibility of squalls and thunderstorms so they didn’t send any boats out. To end it all with a bang, that night I found myself with a fever and was unable to sail the last day. In the end we finished the regatta in 45 out of 173 boats. Although the last regatta did not go as planned, this trip was an amazing experience that I feel lucky to have been able to do. On this trip Morgan and I learned more than we could have ever learned back at home and are excited to put our new learnings to use at our next local regattas. Thanks again for making this trip possible for me to do.