Miami OCR 2014

Tough week in Miami. The conditions were less than ideal with only 6 races completed in 5 days, and two days with no racing at all. The days that we did have racing, the conditions were challenging and I felt that although I learned a lot, I did not perform as well as I could have. Once again, Miami had drawn many top sailors from around the world and it is always a good experience to test myself against them. Although we spent a lot of time waiting for wind in the boat park, it was an awesome chance to get to know some of the other international competitors who I will hopefully get to see more of as I continue to expand my sailing circuit!

Racing Starts Tomorrow!!

Miami OCR starts tomorrow! Spent today making sure the boat was all ready to go and although I showed up at the boat park super early to make sure that I breezed through at the beginning of measurement, I had forgotten to put the country code on my sail so my planning didn't work out quite as planned... Got it all sorted and ended up going out for a short unplanned sail with Brenda Bowskill and Corinne Peters.

This year there will be live tracking for all the races which you can follow here along with finding all the results.

Looking forward to a great regatta!!

Mexico, OSA Awards and Miami OCR

It's been a while since I lasted posted, but no fear, I'm here to fill you in on what I've been up to.

About two weeks ago, I was in Mexico at the International Sailing Academy for a Crossfit/Sailing hybrid camp coached by Anna Tunnicliffe and her personal trainer Brad. The camp was truly eye-opening and I learned a lot during the week. We would wake up early (well, early for me) every morning to be at the crossfit gym by 8, where we would go through a series of different workouts designed by Anna and brad for a hour and a half everyday. Each morning brought new exercises and a new round of sore muscles, yet there was something so sweet about finishing those WOD's (workout of the day in crossfit jargon). Maybe it was the fact that I felt like I was pushing my body harder than I ever have before. After crossfit, we would head back to the sail loft where Donita (the ISA chef) would prepare breakfast for us in the morning and dinner when we got off the water, and Mike (owner of the sail loft) would fill us in on the likely weather for the day. We would have our daily brief as we finished eating and then it was down to the boat compound to rig up and hit the water. Most days, we would be on the water for 12.30 and would sail right through to 4 or 4.30, putting in some solid hours on the water. The conditions were mostly light and variable with the wind picking up a little bit on the last 2 days, we were at the end of a weather system that had brought a lot of rain, wiping out most of the breeze right before our camp started. All in all, it was an amazing experience, getting to learn from Brad and Anna, and having the opportunity to train with sailors from all over that I would otherwise not get a chance to do much training or sailing with.

Another incredible opportunity came last weekend when I went to the Ontario Sailing Association Annual General Meeting. I had been invited as a member of the Canada Summer Games team and our efforts this summer were honoured with the GAM on Yachting Award of Excellence. It was awesome to have all our hard work from earlier in the summer acknowledge in front of so many. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to walk around to boat show and talk to some of the people and organizations that have helped me get to where I am today.

Currently, I am in Miami having just finished up my second day of training leading in to Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. This year there will be 50 boats instead of the 35 from last year, a bigger fleet just means more opportunities to move up through the fleet and hopefully post my best result to date. I have a couple more days of training before measurement and then the regatta starts on the 27th. It's great to be back in Miami training with the girls!

Hope everyone is staying warm back home in the snow!

Wind Athletes!

Exciting News!

Thanks to John Curtis and the team at Wind Athletes, you can donate to my sailing campaign online and receive a tax receipt. They have listed me on their donation page with current members of the National and Olympic teams. I have been training in Halifax while attending Dalhousie University and, at this time, I am fundraising for the coming winter training in Florida and my program next summer.

On the Wind Athletes donate page, you can find my name in the Laser Radial section and it's as simple as clicking my name and entering a donation amount. All donations of over $25 will receive a tax receipt. For more information on the foundation, check out their website here.

Thanks to all of you who have provided me with both financial and moral support on the past. I couldn't do it without you!

PanAmerican Games Identification Camp

To partake in a little ‘Throwback Thursday’, back in September, I returned to Ontario for a week to sail in a PanAmerican games identification camp, which took place in the two days leading up to the Ontario Sailing Combine and Fall CORK. The Camp was run by Ontario Sailing and was coached primarily by Larry Lemieux and Zach Railey. Larry is a renown coach and has been coached world class champions and Olympians, not to mention competing in tow Olympics himself; 1984 in the Star and 1988 in the Finn Class. Zach Railey is also a phenomenal sailor, still currently competing in the Finn Class. In 2008, he won the Silver medal in the Finn for the USA. It was an incredible experience, being able to be coached by two sailors with so much experience under their belts. We had the opportunity to work on everything from mark roundings, to tack and gybes, and some long lineups where we focused on boat speed. Their vast amounts of input and information they were able to share with us over the span of two days is something that I think I will always remember and that my sailing will forever be thankful for as well.

Summer Snapshot: Cork OCR

Today I wrote my third midterm out of four and having to hit the books really makes me wish for my summer back, and so here’s another ‘what I did this summer’ catch up!

After Canada Games wrapped up, I headed home to Toronto for the weekend and then it was right back to Kingston to compete at CORK OCR, the first half of our Canadian Sailing Team qualifiers – the second half being Miami OCR at the end of January. Once arrived in Kingston, I got out on the water with coach Chris Cook, some of the CST girls and the other identified athletes for a couple days of solid Kingston training before the regatta.

Having just finished up the Games in the shifty, puffy conditions of Magog, I was looking forward to the steady, consistent breeze of Kingston and being able to stretch my legs a bit. Much to everyone’s surprise, the first three days of the regatta were not the classic Kingston thermal and due to various weather systems in the area, we ended up racing in light, variable breeze. We also sailed the first couple days just off the Portsmouth Harbour pier, so that also provided some plot twists, as we didn’t have the normal Kingston lefty.

After those first couple of days though, we moved back out to the middle of the river and the wind picked up. For the rest of the regatta we had increasing winds everyday, which meant hard work for everyone. We were sailing 3 lap races, something that was new to most of us, which meant slightly shorter upwinds, more time for gains (or loses - but I’m a cup half full kind of person), and lots and lots of hiking. There was quite a lot of mental prep required before you rounded that last leeward mark to brace yourself for the pain of that last upwind!

All in all, it was a tough regatta, requiring all of the sailors to change gears halfway through kept us all on our toes. There were lots of learning experiences, and I personally had a breakthrough when it came to pushing myself when I thought I had nothing left. This breakthrough helped lead to some results that I am very proud of, and have set myself up in a good position heading into the winter season and Miami OCR. I look forward to sailing in everything Kingston has to offer for many years to come – it is probably one of my favourite racing venues.

But now, it’s back to the books with one more midterm to go. Wish me luck!

Summer Snapshot: the Summer Games

The deep red and gold maple leaves are falling across Ontario and here in Nova Scotia the cold autumn rain chills to the bone.  It has been many months since my first post to this blog – many months of training, competing, packing, moving and now studying.  This is the first of a couple of “what I did over my summer holidays” notes to bring you up to date.

Currently, I’m in Halifax, Nova Scotia attending Dalhousie University in the Arts & Social Sciences department.  After a gap year in Miami training and competing, it’s back to the books… More on Dal later.

By far the highlight of the summer was representing Ontario in the Laser Radial at the Canada Summer Games held in Sherbrooke, Quebec in August.  On a crystal clear Sherbrooke night against a backdrop of the Apalachian Mountains, the Opening Ceremonies August 1 were a thrill.  The entire contingent from Ontario was decked out in our white, black and red Team O gear. We marched into the Sherbrooke University Stadium amidst cheers, music and lots of Ontario flags, a really unique experience. All the teams looked amazing decked out in their team gear, they looked so good I made sure I swapped a few shirts for some of that team gear before I left.

The 5 days of sailing on Petit Magog provided as much variability as one could want sailing on a mountain lake.  We had winds ranging from 0-5 knts one day and 15-20 knts two days later. A small mountain lake, Petit Magog never offered high seas or even a rolling wave but there was lots of chop, shifts and bouncing gusts.  (Toronto Harbour had provided a great training ground with its main street gusts and shifty conditions.)  And there was great competition.  We were 8 radials with representation across the country missing only the 3 territories, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland/Labrador.  The athlete venue was located at the tiny and friendly Petit Magog Sailing Club, while the spectator venue was across the lake at a park.  As a sailing venue it was a unique experience in that bleachers had been set up for viewing and the starting line for the northern of the 2 courses was about 100 metres off the bleachers.

For me the competition was frustrating from Day 1 when my 1^st and 2^nd place finishes only resulted in a DSQ and OCS.  The rest of the week was an uphill battle to drop those 18 points, not an easy feat with only 8 boats competing.  When it was all over, I was pleased to bring home not only a bronze medal for Ontario, but also what felt like a lifetime of experiences.  I made new friends across the country and enjoyed sharing their victories and lamenting their losses in a variety of sports.  A huge shout-out to our coaches for the Games, Chris Hewson and Emily Hill and our Chef de Mission, Steve Jarvis. Chris and Emily kept us keen and focused while Steve kept all the logistics in line – including a few extra trading pins and tickets.

Here at Dalhousie, I’m surprised how many Games shirts and team gear from across Canada I see on campus.  The only problem is, the team gear was swapped, traded and bartered for feverishly and the guy in my Psychology 1000 class whose hoodie says Yukon could just as likely be from Manitoba.  All in all it was a fantastic experience and one for which I am very grateful.