Thank you for your generous grant to support my travel to Miami for the Orange Bowl Regatta.
I arrive in Miami for 5 days of practice leading up to the event. The conditions were very different than last year, with warm weather and light to moderate winds. Practices went well and we felt extremely fast during our upwinds.
The first day the regatta was disappointing with winds from 3-6 knots. We were only able to sail two races where I placed 2 and 3 in the qualifier day. Day two again, we had light winds, but the RC was able to run 4 races. At the end of day 2, with a Black Flag added to my score line I was in 5th place.
Day three proved more difficult as I struggled to get off the start line and placed mid fleet in my first two races. I shifted gears and finished with two good races. Unfortunately the slow start to the day placed me in 7th. The final day of racing was called with no races being completed due to lack of winds. I was extremely disappointed as I have challenged myself to go out and put up a few good races to redeem myself and move into the top 5.