U-21 Worlds

Last week, I competed in the under-21 Laser Worlds, held in Kiel, Germany. After 5 days of racing (no racing on day 6 because of lack of wind), I finished the regatta in 35th of 144. My goal for the regatta was to be top 20, and I went into the last day in 20th, but I just couldn’t do anything right, and dropped 15 spots as a result. Initially, I was very frustrated about this, because top 20 was in my grasp and I just couldn’t put it together in the end. However, when I look at the big picture, I’m still really happy with the progress that this shows that I have made over the last year. One year ago, I competed at the Radial youth (U19) worlds, which is a lower level regatta and I finished in 64th. That’s still a long way to come in a year and I’m happy, not only that I have made that progress, but also that it shows in the results. Next year will be my last time competing in the under 21 category, and this time I will be coming to win it.

It’s been a lot of fun racing in a U-21 regatta. Most of the year, I am sailing on the circuit against the top sailors in the world, and I’m not yet at the level that I’m at the front of those fleets. While those regattas have been very productive for me in a lot of ways, racing in a fleet such as this where I can be competitive in the top group is quite an enjoyable experience. Plus, I get to practice certain skills that I don’t otherwise get to work on.

I’ll keep this update pretty short, but just figured I’d write something quite to update everyone on how things are going. After the worlds in Germany, we drove down to Croatia where the U21 Europeans will be held here, starting Monday. Stay tuned for updates on how this one goes!

Thanks for reading!

Fillah