I am so grateful that I was able to sail three regattas this summer, C420 North Americans, CJ Buckley Youth National Team Racing and C420 National Championship. I experienced fun and exciting challenges throughout each regatta.
North Americans in Redwood City, California was a tough but fun regatta. Conditions were extreme, with 20-25 knot winds. We were one of the lightest teams in the top 10. The wind helped push my skipper and I to the next level making us use all our strength. We finished in 8th out of 106 boats.
CJ Buckley Team Racing in East Greenwich. Rhode Island is always one of my favorites, it’s such a different experience sailing a C420 with no traps or spinnaker. Even though I love fleet racing, team racing is very different. The finals came down to two teams of which we were one. The other team was from Southern California as well and had won every single race of the regatta to this point. It was tense and exciting racing, and we were fortunate to prevail.
C420 Nationals was held in a place I had never sailed in, Beach Haven, New Jersey. We had a variety of weather; extreme heat, rain. lightning storms no wind and heavy wind. Most mornings started off with little to no wind, but it would steadily build to strong winds and waves. It was challenging and a lot of fun. We finished 9th out of 129 boats.
By sailing in multiple C420 regattas we placed 3rd in the C420 Triple Crown, an annual award based on regattas sailed throughout the year.
Directly from New Jersey, my family and I went straight to New Orleans where I started my freshman year as a student and member of the sailing team at Tulane University. Being able to sail in these C420 regattas over the past three summers has given me the opportunity to improve my skills and meet coaches from many universities which resulted in this great opportunity to attend and sail at Tulane University. I really appreciate all the funding provided to allow me to have all these amazing experiences and opportunities.
Thank you so much!