Adelaide, 6-10 January
Before the actual nationals started there was a four day training clinic which also included a practice regatta. These were both really great for getting prepared as we had top level coaches from Peru, New Zealand, Ireland, America and Australia. There were 65 sailors competing in the clinic so it was great experience for everyone. The coaches split us up into seven groups and so each coach had each group at least once. The clinic was awesome as I could compare against top sailors and improve. I learned heaps about starts and light air acceleration. The practice regatta was a good measure on other sailors with about 70 boats on the first day and around 40 on the last day, probably because everyone was having a relaxing day before nationals.
I established a routine for everyday, going to bed at 9, baked beans and toast for breakfast, waking up at 6, going down to the club at 8 and rigging my boat the same way every time. This was really useful for relaxation and peak performance.
When we got down to the club we had to register and measure but as I did this at the training clinic all I had to do was get my measurement sheet ticked off and my boat stamped. No drama there. Then I met up with the rest of the Queensland Team and found my coach Tom Brewer.
The nationals were constituted for 12 races with 2 drops over 4 days which definitely didn’t happen, due to weather constraints (no wind). They separated the sailors into 4 divisions; blue, white, yellow and green. We were given corresponding ribbons which we had to fly from the top of our sprit. Each race had 2 flights eg. For Race 2a was blue and green while 2b was white and yellow. My goal was to finish inside the top ten for each race.
The weather forecast indicated a really light regatta which didn’t really suit me but that’s how it is.
An invitation race (not counted in the regatta) was scheduled for the first day, plus heat one. I was third in the invitation race which was a pleasant surprise. In heat 1 I had a good start and finished 10th.
On Day 2 four races were scheduled with an 1100 start time. Tom told me to just stay consistent and not to take many risks. Heat 2 was an awesome race and I had a 5th so I was pumped up for the next one. I had another good start and finished in 9th in heat 3. We came in for lunch at about 1300 and then went out again for heat 4 in which I came 7th.
Next day was really dodgy with no wind but in heat 5 I scraped 10th and in heat 6 was a sobering 29th.
For the last day I needed 3 good races to keep in the top 5 and gain a place in the worlds team. I was previously coming 3rd but had dropped down to 7th with one drop. Heat 7 was ok with an 18th and heat 8 was excellent with a 4th. But heat 9 was really bad. I and many others went out to the right on the first upwind because it paid off heaps on the race before and we got completely wiped out by a massive left shift. I was 28th around the top mark. There was so much tide ripping through the bottom gate that we could hardly get around it and I’m not joking! It actually took 15 minutes to round the mark. Everyone else was just sailing past me and a few other guys and I missed the time limit. Oh well, I am now 9th overall.
The race committee was trying to get a couple more races on the next day but there wasn’t any wind so it didn’t happen, and I remained 9th., enough to get into the Australian Optimist Sailing Team (AOST), but not to get to the worlds.
Having finished 9th Australian and 18th overall, I qualified for inclusion in the AOST for the European Championships in Poland in July, which will be great, and also to go to the New Zealand Nationals at Easter. Also in the team to go to Poland are some Victorian friends so it’s gonna be crazy.
I’m aiming to finish 1st Australian in both events.
My sister Eva has also been sailing in the Green Fleet (novices). Eva did fantastically well, coming first in the pre-regatta, and 2nd overall with 1st Australian in the Nationals.
We’d both like to thank::