The 2023 Global 2k Team Race was another great success for team NHYC! This was the second victory for Team NHYC in back-to-back years at the Global 2k Team Race Regatta. This event is a 2v2 team race in Sonars that features various yacht clubs from around the globe. The event was hosted by Royal Thames Yacht Club for this year’s rendition of the event. The event was sailed on the Queen Mary Reservoir about 40 minutes outside the heart of London.  Team NHYC was comprised of a top-notch squad with a level of crew work that other teams were only able to dream about. Our team included skippers Sean Segerblom & Andrew Person and the crews were me, Wills Cook, Bill Menninger, Kayla La Dow, Colin Voigt, and Sally Mace.  We raced a solid event and ultimately made it to the finals where we sailed against Royal Thames Yacht Club. After dropping the first race to RTYC we had to put our heads down and reset as the finals was first to two wins or best of 3. We put together two more beautiful races and came out the victors! This is a great event, and we look forward to competing again next year as we look for the coveted threepeat! Thank you NHSF for the continued support of Team NHYC!

Thank you so much Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation for your continued support of my sailing. It was a great opportunity to be able to sail at the C420 Tucci Orange Bowl regatta at Coral Reef Yacht Club. I had a great time exploring the wonderful city of Cocunut Grove and will never forget the memories I made over this regatta. I finished 11th overall in a competitive 86 boat fleet. In the C420 fleet we are split into to different fleets and sail on an inner or outer trapezoid course. After the qualifying rounds you sail in either Gold or Silver fleet. On our first day of racing we didn’t get any races off due to the marginal temperature difference between the water and air which didn’t allow for a stable sea breeze. On our second day of racing we had been postponed on land for a few hours due to a storm front coming in with heavy rain and strong winds, eventually we went out later in the day and got two races of in lighter conditions where we finished 13th and 6th in the blue fleet. On the third day we changed to the yellow fleet and got 4 races off in very puffy and shifty conditions that made for difficult racing. We had a tough first race finishing 22nd and then went 2nd, 2nd, and 7th which was an amazing day for us. This concluded our qualifying days and left us with 1 more day in the championship round. We finished up the regatta with another light and shifty day with a 27th and a 3rd in the Gold fleet leaving us 1 point out of the top 10. It was a great regatta for us and allowed myself and my crew Kathi Keller to learn so much from these difficult and very competitive races.  Thank you again for the opportunity to compete in the Tucci Orange Bowl regatta, we are very appreciative of the Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation and all you do for us as junior sailors. 

The 2023 Orange Bowl was definitely a rollercoaster. My goals this year were to have fun, make gold fleet in the Opti class, and have better starts. The previous two years I had qualified for bronze fleet, so this year I had been training extra hard and my sailing has greatly improved. I did the Coral Reef YC clinic for the third year in a row and I had so much fun, but I wasn’t doing well in the drills, so I was SUPER stressed out for the regatta. Then the first day rolled around and I ended the day in 21st, I was even ahead of all of my team mates. The fact that there wasn’t a lot of wind on the first day and we only got two races and I sail really well in light wind made for great results. The second day escalated a bit because I was placed in a fleet with better people. We didn't get the amount of races the race committee wanted after the first two days, so we were still in the qualifying series for the third day.  I dropped after the third day by ten spots, but I qualified for  gold fleet! There is honestly no way to explain how I felt after that, because I was just so relieved. On the last day I didn’t feel great and my races reflected that, I thought I dropped so much, until I came in and I ended up in 39 overall. I was super happy with my performance for this regatta, and I left as satisfied as I could. My goals were completed, I made gold and had fun with it, and my starts were perfect 80% of the time, which is definitely an improvement. Thank you for funding me to go to this event, I’m so happy I got to go for my third year and hopefully I get to go for a fourth in 2024.

I'd like to thank you all for your continued support of us at the Orange Bowl Youth International Regatta this year. This was our first Orange Bowl sailing c420's. The first day of the regatta unfortunately began with a light breeze that faded away before any races could be completed. We finally got some races off during the second day; however, before that could happen, rain clouds passed over the racecourse, postponing us on land for a couple of hours. After the rain cleared, we were sent out and we completed two races, finishing with a twenty and a UFD. The third day we were hoping to get some good scores and bring our total up, and after scoring three top twenties, we were feeling confident. Unfortunately, on the last race of the flight series, despite finishing in the top 5, we were called over so we finished the day placing in the silver division. The last day had a nice breeze, and we placed well in the silver fleet, finishing the regatta off with a four and a two. I really enjoyed sailing in this regatta and I look to improve my racing results by starting more conservatively. Sailing against these world-class sailors is bound to help me improve dramatically, and so I thank you all once again for your support!

Thank you NHSF for sponsoring Summer of 2023 in the C420 I competed in the New England in Shelter Island, NY; Nationals in Chicago; and North Americans in Rhode Island. I was able to continue to expand my sailing experiences and grow as a skipper. I had three unique Crews Julia Getter, Madi Jones, and Isabella Clark. Each venue was different conditions and challenging. Shelter Island was a large starting line with all 90 boats on one line; Chicago was light choppy and really tough. The Rhode Island event was my favorite and we got to explore the area including Roger Williams and Brown. I am looking forward to taking my experience this last summer and improving my results this year.