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.
A lot of sailors would suggest that it’s ‘when’ you start that matters, the earlier the better. Others would insist that it’s the weather on your start day that matters most, the windier the better. Both are logical and have been true separately and combined. But what if NEITHER mattered?
Not many (any?) spectators on Shelter Island watching the Saturday starters for the the 2024 San Diego to Puerto Vallarta International Yacht Race would have speculated that seven of the boats floating in the windless bay that afternoon would fill the top seven overall finishing positions! They were already 48 hours behind the two Thursday starters blasting down the course in a fresh westerly wind. But after a week of many sail changes, cursing grib files, running weather models, and pressing the boat when the ‘park up’ (sitting ‘parked’ in becalmed windless conditions) was over, that is exactly what the results reflect.
One answer is that larger boats with larger sail areas have more access to the wind when it is light, thus have a better chance of sailing faster relative to the smaller boats. To frame it another way - you don’t really have to sail 20+ knots to win. You just have to sail 1-3 kts faster than your competitors as often as possible. Sailing at 5-7 kts when your competitor is sailing 0-2 kts will get it done!
The Women’s Winter Invitational Regatta has grown to be a convivial and competitive event for all involved. This year over 40 invitations were requested, with 24 teams from all over America, Canada, and Mexico competing. To earn the coveted SDYC spot, our team won the qualifier in January against 9 teams in tricky light conditions with very strong current. Our team consisted of Rebecca McElvain as skipper, with Julie Mitchell on main and tactics, and Erika Barth on jib and bow.
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.
The Etchells West Coast Spring Series is back and better than ever for the 2024 season, promising a thrilling series of regattas. San Diego Yacht Club, in collaboration with the local Etchells Fleet 13, cordially invites sailors from near and far to participate in this prestigious sailing event on the challenging Coronado Roads course. The Series comprises four regattas, one of which may be used as a throw-out in the final scoring of the Series.