Thank you so much for supporting Morgan and my trip out east to Miami this winter. I really appreciate your help in making this experience possible for me. Here is a summary of my week-long adventure in Florida.
2018 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta
© Matias Capizzano
Before flying out to Florida, my dad, my brother and I attended an early Christmas dinner at the Pinckney residence with Morgan, his parents, and his grandmother. We then flew out on Christmas Eve to begin our trip. We arrived at the venue a day early and luckily were able to take out our charter boat for an extra day of private practice with our coach, Udi Gal, as no one else had arrived yet. That night we were once again lucky, as after a long night of searching, we found a restaurant open on Christmas day. The next day was the official practice day before the regatta, where we met with the rest of the sailors we were sailing with as well as our second coach, Nick Chisari. Unfortunately, Morgan was sick, so we took the day a little easier and prepared ourselves for the strong winds forecasted for tomorrow. Finally, the first day of qualifying came around. With gusts up to around 20 knots, the wind lived up to its forecast. At the end of the day, we finished in 2nd with a 3, 1, 4, after the first race was abandoned due to the whole fleet sailing the wrong course. Unfortunately, the second day did not go as smoothly as the first, but we were able to remain in 6th. 
Throughout the next couple of days, the wind got progressively lighter, and after the fleet was split into gold and silver, the wind stayed under 10 knots. The first day in gold flight went well, with Morgan and I finding our speed in the light air as well as the heavy. We were able to move our way to 5th and after a tiring last day, narrowly held on, finishing the regatta in 5th place out of 80 registered boats.
On this trip Morgan and I learned a ton and are excited to keep learning and put our new skills to use at the upcoming C420 Midwinters East back in Florida and C420 North Americans in San Francisco. I cannot wait to see where Morgan and I will go next and thank you so much again for making this experience possible for me.