Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation: Sailor Stories

Cassady Lorentzen at the 2026 C420 Midwinters East

Results

This year's midwinters I sailed with Vanessa Mellinger. We have only been practicing with each other less than a month (2 weekends actually), so we were nervous, but hopeful. When we arrived in Jensen the weather was beautiful, sunny and 80 degrees. On our practice day we sailed well. We were hoping the first day was going to be breeze on, but unfortunately that was not the case. It was maybe 5-10 knots at most and shifts all over the course. We didn’t do that well on the first day but that just left improvement for the next. On the second day there was definitely wind. 15-18 knots with big gusts of 22, and we were killing it. On the upwinds we were passing people that had 10-20 pounds on us, and in my book that was an accomplishment. On our second race rounding for a reach finish we capsized in around tenth place. We were so mad that we got the boat back upright and finished the race in twenty-first. We were disappointed, but the best thing we could do was keep going. They were aiming for four races, but they called the day at three because there were too many teams capsized and having to retire. This did put us in the silver fleet because we needed one more good race, but we kept on going. The third day was unpredictable. There were shifts we didn’t get after winning starts, but the breeze was rising. In the last race, there was a steady seabreeze of 19 knots. There was big chop, but we were surviving and doing well. We rounded the bottom mark in top ten for the second upwind, where half of the bronze fleet were capsized and the gold fleet were on their last downwind. We ended up finishing that race in sixth, which was a positive to end the regatta on. Overall I think we could have done better but for our first regatta together I’m happy how we improved each day, and I’m excited for what’s next!