December 2024, I attended the 50th annual Orange Bowl regatta for the 4th time. This year was the first time I didn’t come early and attend the clinic before the regatta. I believe I could’ve done much better if the conditions weren’t as windy and unpredictable, but I still had fun seeing my friends and coaches. Although I didn’t achieve my goal of doing better than last year in gold fleet, I think I definitely learned and took away a lot from this event, one thing being that you CANNOT give up after the first day of racing, and you have to push the entire regatta no matter what is happening to you, inside and outside of racing. 

Sailing over the holidays in Key Biscayne for the annual Orange Bowl Regatta is one of the best experiences for big fleet racing I get to have all year. You never know what the weather and wind will be from day to day and that is what makes it so exciting. 

Thank you for your support to the Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami.  The high level of competition that comes to the Orange Bowl every year is something that I look forward to because it pushes us all to perform our best. Competing in the ILCA6 in heavy winds, rain, and chop in large fleets was an unforgettable experience this year.

I want to thank NHSF for supporting me at the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta in Miami, Fl earlier this year. I sailed ILCA 4s at this event and throughout the event I had good races and learned a lot. During the first two days, the wind ranged from 9 to 16 knots. The third day was much windier with 17 - 22 kts of wind, and waves and chop. Each day we had three or four races, and the races were around 45 minutes long. I got to work on starts in a competitive fleet and also work on upwind tactics. Thanks to the support from the sailing foundation I was able to get practice in these challenging conditions with a competitive fleet, and I can't wait to sail in another ILCA event later this year!

The C420 Midwinter regatta was a thrilling experience. My crew (Cash Espinoza) and I had fun every single day we were there. The wind was ruthless. So much so that the main sheet burned through my hand, but it was worth it. We got to enjoy the company of many of our friends every day of the regatta. We had a blast facing the long races and the extremely warm water. After sailing, all of our friends went to the same hotel, and we all enjoyed the large hot tub. The competition was stiff, but it didn’t keep us from having fun. I am grateful to all the volunteers who made this regatta happen.

We want to extend our deepest gratitude to Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation for making it possible for us to travel and compete at the Orange Bowl at Coral Reef Yacht Club and C420 Midwinters at USSCMC. Thanks to your support, we were able to refine our racing skills, compete against top teams, and achieve our goal of a top-10 finish at both events. These regattas provided us with invaluable experience, allowing us to push our limits in a variety of challenging conditions. The events challenged us to improve our communication, tactical decision-making, and fleet positioning, all of which will help us grow as sailors. We were able to test and refine our strategies, learning how to adapt to shifting conditions and make smarter decisions on the water. Your generosity and belief in us made this experience possible, and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity. The knowledge and skills we have gained from these events will undoubtedly help us in future competitions. We look forward to continuing to represent Newport Harbor Yacht Club and making the most of the lessons learned from both regattas. We finished 9th out of 90 at Orange Bowl and 7th out of 141 at Midwinters.