Thank you so much for your funding which allowed me to compete in Brant Beach, New Jersey at the Brant Beach Yacht Club for the C420 Women’s North Americans. Sailing in Brant Beach, New Jersey had quite the opposite sailing conditions than C420 Nationals: wind and flatter water. I was very excited when the forecast said 18+ knots of breeze and to be full trapping. The first day of the regatta, the conditions lived up to the forecast with big winds and even windier reaches, and the second day, the wind was lighter ranging from 8-12 knots of breeze. I learned that taking the low lane on the downwinds in lighter pressure isn’t always the best vmg mode if other boats are higher and faster and how the first beat of the race proves to be the most important in a shorter upwind race course. Overall, my skipper Sophia Devling and I made the best out of each day finishing 2nd out of 46 boats. I learned so much in New Jersey and will continue to use the lessons throughout the rest of my sailing. Thank you again for making that happen.

Thank you so much for your continued support of my sailing campaigns in allowing me to compete at the 2023 C420 National Championship in Chicago, IL. After three long days of racing, my crew Dillon and I ended up placing 16th out of 113 teams.

The first day gave us a light but building sea breeze, with fairly stable conditions and very long courses. We started off safe and consistent, getting off the line well mid-pin and extending left, giving us a 4, 4 to start the regatta off. However, we knew that if we wanted to contest a win, we needed to shift closer to the favored end of the line. Unfortunately, despite having a killer start, confusion in regards to multiple sound signals had us going slow the first few seconds off the line, which cost us greatly.

Thank you so much for your funding which allowed me to compete in Chicago at the Chicago Yacht Club for the C420 National Championship. I learned a great deal sailing with my skipper Morgan Pinckney about the different nuances of the wind, different pressure zones, how banging the left corner has its pros and cons, and staying in phase in each race. Also, to never ever give up no matter if you round the windward mark in 40th place because if you keep your head in the game you can make a come back, boat by boat, and finish with a strong fourth place in the fifth race of the second day. The conditions proved to be tricky with light breeze and very choppy wave patterns throughout the regatta. Overall, my skipper and I made the best out of each day and the tricky conditions finishing 3rd overall out of 113 boats. I learned so much in Chicago and will continue to use the lessons throughout the rest of my sailing. Thank you again for making that happen.

Thank you to the Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation for the support at the 2023 Wilson Trophy. The Wilson Trophy is hosted annually across the pond in West Kirby, England. The event is a 3v3 team race in Firefly boats. There were 32 teams coming from the USA, UK, and Ireland.

The West Kirby Sailing Club is a beautiful sailing club located on River Dee just outside of Liverpool. The river Dee has such extreme tides that in the morning the water reaches the club, but by the evening, it is a half mile walk out to the water. Due to the extreme tides, the Wilson Trophy is sailed on Marine Lake, which is a small lake that the club also has direct access to. As Marine Lake is very small, the conditions are great for dinghy team racing. The water is always flat, rotations are extremely quick and easy, and the spectating is as close to stadium seating as sailing can get.

Thank you so much for your continued support which has allowed me to travel to Sheboygan, WI to compete in the 2023 US Youth Match Racing Championship for the Rose Cup. After two days of training and three days of racing in a large variety of conditions, our team – Sophia Pearse (jib), Tyler Wood (bow), Dillon Garcia (main), and myself – ended up placing 6th out of 10 teams.

The first day of racing gave us flat water but very light winds, to the extent that we had to abandon our first match mid start and postpone all racing. Nonetheless, we stayed focused, and after racing resumed, we started off strong with a win against Morgan Pinckney, the defending champion who would go on to become the number one seed after the first round robin. However, due to uncooperative conditions, we were only able to get one more flight off - in which we had a bye - before calling it a day.

This May, NHYC sent a team consisting of Charlie Welsh, Tori Thompson, Bill Menninger, Doug Rastello, Mandy McDonnell, Tyler Macdonald, Sally Mace, and myself [Andrew Person] to the Cumberland Cup in London. This edition of the Cumberland Cup was a 2 on 2 team race held on the Queen Mary Reservoir in Royal Thames YC’s brand new fleet of Sonars. The boats were so new that some of us helped install parts of the rigging prior to taking them out for their maiden voyages. The Cumberland Cup was first held in 1775, so it was incredible to be a part of the 248th anniversary of the event.