I recently (and very unexpectedly) competed in this year's Orange Bowl Regatta at Coral Reef Yacht Club in the C420 class. It was about 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve, while my dad and I were at the grocery store doing some last minute meal shopping for dinner that night, when my mom gave us a call. She asked if I wanted to go to the Orange Bowl Regatta this year. Not really believing her, my response was SURE! Later, we sat down and I asked why am I all of a sudden going to a regatta that I haven’t trained for, nor have crew for. She told me the team of Jean Wanlass and Alex Stauffer was prepping for this event when Jean, the skipper, came down with the flu and was not well enough to sail the event. Less than 13 hours later, I was on a plane on Christmas morning, flying out to Miami. What a Christmas present! I met Alex and her mom in the airport and we drove to the venue for our first day of practice together. Note this was our first time sailing the boat together and would be my first C420 regatta, ever... in an 80 boat fleet!

I recently competed at the 2017 Orange Bowl Youth International Regatta in Miami, Florida in the c420 with my skipper Gray Hemans (BYC). The regatta consisted of five days of sailing, including one day of clinic and four days of racing.

Leaving California Christmas morning, we saw a couple sailors on our flight and enjoyed talking about what was in store for us in Florida. The next day, Gray and I walked from our hotel
to the venue, and rigged what would be our c420 for the next three days. With winds around 15 knots, the conditions looked promising for the rest of the week, and we were able to test out our boat with a couple other teams from southern California and our coach from Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, Maryland.

Thank you so much for your financial support, which helped me attend the 2017 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta held at Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami, Florida. Sadly due to some unforeseen circumstances, my skipper Jean Marie Wanlass, who I had trained with for months, was unable to attend. Fortunately, Jeffrey Petersen was able to join me as my skipper.

Thank you so much for funding my trip to Saint Petersburg, Florida, to compete at the ISSA High School Keelboat Nationals this past week. The regatta consisted of three days of sailing, including one practice day and two race days. I was very lucky to be a part of the CDM Keelboat Team. Usually, girls are unable to be on the keelboat team because the qualifying round overlaps with the ISSA All Girls Regatta, however this year, another crew member was unable to attend the nationals in Florida because he was competing in another regatta.

Thank you so much for funding my trip to Saint Petersburg, Florida, to compete at the ISSA High School Keelboat Nationals this past week. The regatta consisted of three days of sailing, including one practice day and two race days. I was very lucky to be a part of the CDM Keelboat Team. Usually, girls are unable to be on the keelboat team because the qualifying round overlaps with the ISSA All Girls Regatta, however this year, another crew member was unable to attend the nationals in Florida because he was competing in another regatta.

Thank you so much for funding my crew, Riley Foster, and I for our trip to Annapolis, Maryland to compete at the US Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship this July. The regatta consisted of five days of sailing, including two days of clinic and three days of racing. However, Riley and I flew to Maryland a week beforehand to participate in a clinic at Severn Sailing Association, a local sailing organization. As soon as we arrived in Maryland, we were welcomed by almost a thirty degree temperature increase from what we were accustomed to back in California. The clinic did not start until Monday, so we spent our first day touring the US Naval Academy and exploring downtown Annapolis. The next three days, we sailed out of Severn Sailing Association under the direction of some of the country’s greatest coaches: Ian Burman from the United States Naval Academy, John Vandemoer from Stanford University, and Bill Ward from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. During the clinic, we worked on boat speed and boat handling in very challenging conditions. Unlike anywhere I have sailed on the West Coast, the wind in Annapolis was extremely shifty and unpredictable. One minute the wind would be blowing around 18 knots, and before you can switch gears, the wind would die down to 2-3 knots. Although it was very frustrating at times, I quickly learned how to tune my boat for shifty conditions and was able to apply the knowledge I learned from the clinic to the following regatta. Because the weather is so unpredictable, we had to retire from sailing one morning due to lack of wind. However, the coaches used this opportunity to help us look at sailing from a different perspective. Split into groups, we analyzed video and boat rigging and discussed the benefits of the many different approaches to boat handling and boat set up.