Open Regatta - Sail Sand Point

This High School regatta was very interesting. Yesterday, March 14th we sailed CFJs at SSP. It was pretty windy and very cold. In the first race I went out with Maddie, a teammate of mine and our shroud snapped right as the starting whistle was blown. We pulled our rig all the way down and the crashboat towed us in. Then two other teamates of mine went out for 3 races. When they came back in, I went out with Colin. It was his first regatta. We started the race and were doing ok, we sailed to the windward mark and rounded no problem. Then, at the gybe mark, we were close to 3 other boats. When we all gybed, there was a huge gust which blew us all over. After that we went in because I didn't want Colin to be too cold or to have a really bad experience in his first regatta. I decided no to go back out after that. Something went wrong everytime I went out, but in the end I had a pretty good time.

High School Kick-Off Regatta

Wow.  Today was fun.  I raced in the first HS regatta of the season and my team got 3rd out of 17 teams!!!  We had every weather and wind condition you could think of well racing 420's at Seattle Yacht Club.  There was snow, hail, rain, and sun!  Luckily I wore my HH drysuit.  Also, everything from no-wind to large gusts and white caps.  I sailed with 2 different crews, dani and kate.  They were amazing.  Some of our roll-tacks were perfect!  I got a 5th, 8th (we were fouled 5 times), 6th, and 3rd in the B fleet and a 5th and 2nd in the A fleet.  Not to mention, 2 people from my HS came to see if they wanted to join and they are going to!  YAY!  Another person my join as well which would be fantastic because we would have a full team.  It was a lot of fun and I can't wait for the regatta next weekend at Sail Sand Point!

Over the weekend (Feb 7-8) I went to the Frigid Digit regatta at Shilshole.  It was a blast with a great race committee, competitors, and door prizes from West Coast Sailing.  I sailed my laser radial and ended up getting first place.  I finished with 8 firsts and 3 seconds.  On saturday we sailed 4 races and I won 1 of the 4 races and got 2nd in the other 3.  On Sunday I had a fantastic day finishing first in all 7 races.  The conditions on Saturday were nice.  It was sunny for part of the day but still chilly.  The wind was light some of the time but steady for most of it.  On Sunday the conditions were even better.  It was partly sunny with some clouds.  The wind was great.  It started out in enough wind to sail and then picked up.  A few boats capsized, but if they had the right gear on they ended up pretty good.  Others were a bit cold after falling in if they didn't have a drysuit.  Luckily I didn't flip, but I was wearing my drysuit just in case I decided to take a dip into the frigid Puget Sound waters.  We did get some great pictures:

Dry Suit

Today my new Helly Hansen drysuit arrived in the mail from Great Britain.  It is all red.  It was so hard to find a bright colored drysuit that was affordable and in my size.  It ended up fitting perfectly even though I ordered it online.  They do not yet sell this drysuit in the US but I found it being sold online in the UK.  I tried it on as soon as it arrived and jumped into the lake.  I stayed completely dry which was great.  It has full feet and neoprene wrist and neck seals so it is really comfortable but the water still does not come in.  Dry suits are great for winter sailing because they keep you warm when it is really cold outside.

Crazy Conditions

1/25/09

WOW today we had some crazy sailing conditions for race team practice.  5 other girls from my team, my coach, and I went out to practice at Shilshole.  The wind was blowing 20-25 mph and we sailed a 29er.  There were snow flurries as well as large swells on the sound.  We rotated between the 29er and the coachboat.  The 29er flipped a few times before we went in.  Two of us were wearing drysuits (including me) and we were still cold.  Our fingers, faces, and toes were cold even with gloves, boots and hats on.  It was crazy but was a great experience.  Coming form California I never would have imagined sailing in these conditions, but remember...don't be a fair weather sailor!!!

 These are pictures of Dick Rose who gave a great seminar on rules 18- 20.

Sailing Rules Seminar

Going to a Rules Seminar tomorrow night at Manuson Park Theater in Seattle.  It is going to be conducted by Dick Rose.  It should teach me a lot about the rule changes in 2009.  If you didn't know the racing rules of sailing are changed every 4 years.  One major change is on rule 18 this year.  There is going to be a change from the two boat length circle around a mark to a 3 boat length circle.  The seminar will hopefully be very helpful.