I just started sailing C420s in September. Prior to Orange Bowl we had competed in 3 regattas (2 Perry regattas & the Halloween regatta at ABYC). So Orange Bowl was a big deal for me. Sadly we had to leave the morning of Christmas. We arrived very late in the evening in Miami. Early the next day we walked down to the US sailing center to check out our chartered boat. Luckily for Marbella (my crew) and I, our friends from back east arrived early and were generous enough to rig it. We practiced that day and it was fun. We did a few drills and races and just focused on getting used to the venue. 
The first day of racing was really nerve racking. We ended up on yellow fleet with friends Ansgar Jordan and Jeffery Peterson and their crew. The first race was rough, but then we started to crawl our way back up in the standings. It was a huge fleet (80 boats) and the courses were everywhere. The first race (on day 2) was a DSQ. We worked hard to shake it off and focus on racing better….we started to get top 15 finishes. Once we got used to starting with 40 boats on the line it got easier. The first 2 days were rather light. We had hoped for more breeze. At the end of day two we found out if we made the silver or gold fleet. To help pass time, my dad, took us out to eat. About half way into dinner we found out we made the gold fleet!
We finished pretty decent out of 80 boats. We had wished to have done better, but hopefully, if we go this year we will do better. We learned a lot over the week. I would love to come back and sail Orange bowl again, I had a blast! The people we met were so nice and the community there was spectacular. I definitely recommend others to go. I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who made this journey possible, my family, my crew Marbella & her family, my coaches and especially the grant from BYC Maritime Sciences & Seamanship Foundation. Thank you!