One of my friends, Max Brennan, asked if I wanted to come down to Australia to do some sailing with him. He had been studying down there for a couple of years and I hadn’t seen him in a while, so I gladly accepted. I had never been to Australia, so I was really excited.

The first event was the Harken International Youth Match Racing Championship in Pittwater out of the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. When I arrived, I did not know what to expect. I was in a foreign country and I did not know anyone, except our crew of Max, NHYC member Jack Flores and LBYC’s Peter Sangmeister. Pittwater is also kind of in the middle of nowhere so it was not really what I expected, but it was really beautiful and looked like Jurassic Park with lots of greenery. 

Orange Bowl 2022 was an event that challenge 78 boats to demonstrate their skills in a variety of conditions. Through the 4 days of racing, we saw consistent chop with breeze ranging from 4-18 knots. Cam Spriggs and I sailed well on day one, enjoyed the challenge of full breeze on days 2+3, and then despite being a heavier team set our goals on the podium for a light air day on the fourth day of racing. This was my third time sailing at Orange Bowl and I am thrilled that Cam Spriggs and I sailed to second place in a competitive fleet. Thank you for the funding that made this experience possible.

Thank you for supporting my competition at the 2022 Orange Bowl International regatta. This year we were met with windy and cold conditions throughout the practice and racing days.

At the end of 4 days of racing Sophia Mulvania and I placed 4th, one point out of third, against a fleet of 78 boats. We competed in a range of conditions from 4-18 knots with consistent chop.  We had many good races and dominated in the light air. I was thrilled to sail with Sophia who "came out of retirement" to crew for me. It was a great event and now has me looking toward Mid Winters.

Thank you very much for helping me attend the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta in Miami, Florida. This was such an important event for me because I am training to make the US Optimist Team at Team Trials in April. My goal in April is to place in the top 32 in order to make the US National Team. I also have a goal of qualifying to represent the US at the North American Championships.  This is a very large regatta with 215 sailors so it is the perfect regatta to use to learn about how to improve and meet my goals. It was my first time sailing in this event, and it is probably one of my new favorites out of all the events I have ever been to. I greatly appreciate your support. 

Thank you so much for the support and funding which allowed me to compete this past December at the 2022 Orange Bowl in Miami, FL. After many days of racing I ended up 7th overall out of 78 boats in the C420 fleet. This event helped me learn and grow as a C420 sailor because we had to adapt to the challenging ranges of wind from 1-18 knots and temperatures ranging from 40-80 degrees. We had many good races and rounded the top mark in 1st in 3 of the races one of them being in gold fleet. On the first day it was very light and we only had two very shifty races. Day 2 it was 14-18 knotts with big oscillations and we got 2 top 5's. The third day and the first day of golf fleet was also windy and on one of the races we rounded in first and ended up getting a 3rd that race. The last day was the hardest day of the regatta because the points in the top 8 where very close and we had to do really well. The conditions the last day where very light and very shifty and with a top 10 in the last race we where able to secure our 7th place finish at orange bowl!! This was probably my favorite c420 regatta I have sailed in my life so far and I couldn't have done it without your support!

Thank you so much for your funding which allowed me to compete in Miami, Florida at the Coral Reef Yacht Club for the Orange Bowl International Regatta. I arrived in Miami a few days before the regatta to get some solid practice in, so my skipper, Noah Stapleton, and I would feel the most prepared for the regatta. The wind and temperature varied a lot throughout the practice days and the regatta. The practice days had temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s which pushed us out of our comfort zone. Despite the practice days, the temperature increased going into the regatta which made the sailing more enjoyable.