Thank you for giving me the opportunity to sail in the 2021 South Shore Regatta in Sayville, New York. I’ve never been to Sayville before so I was really excited to see the venue. As this was the last regatta of the summer, I was really excited. I saw the forecast and saw that it was going to have the most wind out of any regatta this summer, which made me even happier.
We had one practice day before the three-day regatta, and luckily the practice day was pretty windy. This is really helpful since my skipper and I didn’t have any real practice time in windy conditions due to the fact that all the other regattas this summer had been light. This gave us the chance to be able to pin down and learn how to depower the boat.
The first day of the regatta was lighter than the practice day. This was okay because my skipper and I have practiced in light wind as well. As the day went on the wind didn’t really pick up as much as I wanted it to but that was okay because the next day’s forecast was heavier. The second day of the regatta was the windiest day. This is very exciting because I haven’t been able to fully trap all summer. We did the best on the windy day, shockingly. We got all top tens that day and had a great time. I was a little discouraged that we couldn’t do 4 races that day, but I was happy that we at least got in three.
The final day of the regatta and of the summer was the most fun for me. Even though there wasn’t as much wind as the previous day, there is definitely enough to not have to be postponed. I was very happy with how my skipper and I started this day and we finished the regatta strong.
Over this past summer I was so happy to see my skipper and I improve scores wise and boat handling wise. I learned so much that will help me in my skippering and I learned how to improve my crewing. I was so thankful for the summer, because it let me meet so many new people who are going to be sailing against me for many years.
Thank you again so much for giving me this opportunity to sail all summer. I can’t wait to go back east until these events again next year.