Thank you so much for supporting me as we transition into the i420 class. Our first opportunity to race was the 2020 i420 Midwinters in Miami Florida. It was unlike any regatta I had ever experienced. So many unfamiliar faces in a boat we were brand new to sail. During the regatta, my crew Micheal and I did have our fair share of hiccups with our charter boat, but it did not stop us from going out each day. Competing in an i420 is a different animal compared to sailing in the c420. The i420’s are more technical, require more attention, and are generally harder to sail. Those factors, and being new to the class, made me nervous as I am so used to sailing my club 420 (a similar boat to the i420, with a stiffer mast, heavier hull, and more forgiving when you make a mistake).
We had no idea how much we needed to learn about the boat until we stepped into it on the first day of racing. The i420 Midwinters might have been a rough start, but we were happy to compete. The regatta taught us a lot about the boats, and we have been training in the i420 ever since.
The top teams that scored best in the c420 last season, all train and compete in the i420. There are so many crossovers, but honing your skills in the i420 seems to make you a better c420 sailor.
Midwinter’s was my first big regatta in the i420, and we made new friends, re-connected with some old ones, and learned to love the boat even though our results were not as strong as we had hoped.
Racing was hard, the competitors are top notch, and we had a lot of fun competing against them. Thank you again for helping us get to this event. It is opportunities like this that help all of us become better sailors. Trying new classes, traveling and sailing in new waters, makes us all more rounded and better in the sport of sailing.