In March, I spent the week in Long Beach, California at  Alamitos Bay Yacht Club to take part in the CISA clinic and 2024 Youth World Qualifiers.  

We started the week with the CISA clinic that lasted for three days. Our coaches for the 29ers, Willie Bride, Briana Searle, and Evan Heffernan were very knowledgeable. They all provided many resources and information to us with the goal to best prepare us for the regatta the following week, Youth World Qualifiers. I learned so much from this clinic that I can carry on with me for the rest of my sailing in the future.  The wind ranged from light to medium during this clinic which was perfect because those were the conditions that my crew, Zach Peterson and I needed to improve in the most.

I agreed to sail to support my friend Carly Keiding who was looking for a crew at C420 Mid Winters East in Jensen Beach, FL. MWE is one of the largest regattas in the C420 with 148 boats competing.

I arrived a few days early where, along with a number of west and east coast teams, we trained in various conditions with the wind being light and shifty. With the number of boats in the fleet we knew they would break up the sailors into flights and eventually into gold, silver, and bronze for the final days.

When we arrived in Florida, I unloaded my 29er off the trailer and rigged it completely to ensure everything was rigged correctly. After that, I went to eat sushi with the team.

On the second day, we sailed about 30 minutes out to Biscayne Bay to practice. I was struck by how clear and shallow the water was in the bay. When we got out there, I could see hundreds of other boats sailing. We did a lot of up-downs and lineups, then a practice race with the other teams. It was hot and sunny. This was the last of the warm weather for the remainder of the trip.

This past month, my skipper, Anton, and I traveled to Florida to take part in the Open Orange Bowl regatta. It was the first time I was taking part in the event. We flew out Christmas night and rigged our boat the next day. We had one practice day before the regatta started. 

Day one of the regatta was met with rain and wind. We had a 2-hour postponement on land before we were sent out. Once on the race course, we had 20-30 knots of wind. Following multiple capsizes within the 29er fleet, racing was called off for the day. 

Days 2 and 3 were very similar with medium wind and very shifty. We learned a lot from that regatta and it helped us as we are preparing for the Youth World Qualifier that is coming up in late March in Long Beach. 

Thank you to SDYC and HPYS for the support and for helping make the Orange Bowl possible.

On October 20 my dad and I flew to San Francisco where I was sailing in St. Francis Yacht Club’s Fall Dinghy Regatta in my 29er, we met up with my Crew Wes LaRue who with his dad Jon drove the four SDYC teams boats up to San Francisco. Saturday morning we had breakfast and then unloaded and rigged our boats. After making a few grip tape improvements to our boat we met with our two coaches for a great briefing on the day and what to expect. San Francisco Bay and the club is really pretty!

We got on the water and did some speed tuning with 3 of our teammates where we checked our upwind and downwind speed and angles. In the afternoon the breeze built to 13 with a flooding current right on the city front which was really pretty. The racing was super competitive and very fun. The wind all afternoon steadily shifted to the left and a dying breeze. The last 2 races were really difficult with the left shifts, dying breeze and a ripping flood tide. We happily ended Saturday in fifth. We sailed back to the club, unrigged had our de-brief and hot showers, San Francisco is cold!

This summer my teammates, Ava Gustafson, Kaya Hancock, and Taylor Ashton, and I went to Lakewood Yacht Club in SeaBrook, Texas to take part in the 2023 Sears Cup Regatta.

Our team was pulled together with the help of our coach, Steve Hunt, and our junior director, Erik Hallback, on the day of a J22 clinic. No other teams signed up so it was an amazing opportunity for us to learn even more about the J22. We practiced for 3 days with our coach and then completed in the US Sailing Area J Sears Cup Triple Handed Qualifier. This local regatta was super fun because we were the only all girls team and coincidentally had a pink spinnaker as well! It was definitely a challenge, but we managed to win first place and qualify for the Sears Cup. On August 9th we flew out to Seabrook, Texas and participated in the one-day clinic held by US Sailing. We were really grateful for this considering our team was only able to practice one time prior to the event. We had some spinnaker issues with raising and dousing it but it was very good practice for the racing to come. We also found out we were the only all girls team again at this event!

At the beginning of August, Anton and I traveled to Sayville, New York, to compete in the C420 South Shore Championship, the final regatta in the Triple Crown series. On our first day of practice, there was a nice sea breeze of about 12-16 knots, which made for a fun day of sailing. On the first day of racing, we were met with a sea breeze of about 12 knots, which slowly built all day. By the last race, the breeze had picked up to around 18-20 knots. We were really happy to take first place in the windiest race of the regatta since we are a relatively small team.

Over this summer, I had the opportunity to participate in my first international event, the ILCA 4 Youth World Championship held in Volos, Greece.

We left on July 15 with practice starting the next day. My coaches Susannah and Rosie Chapman coached me as well as 15 other US competitors and in total there were 26 US competitors competing in the most well attended 4.7 worlds so far with 430 competitors total.