Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation: Sailor Stories

To submit a Grant Request, please LOGIN or CREATE AN ACCOUNT.

Gage Christopher at the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta

Posted Feb 14, 2023

Sailors: Gage Christopher

Thank you very much for helping me attend the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta in Miami, Florida. This was such an important event for me because I am training to make the US Optimist Team at Team Trials in April. My goal in April is to place in the top 32 in order to make the US National Team. I also have a goal of qualifying to represent the US at the North American Championships. This is a very large regatta with 215 sailors so it is the perfect regatta to use to learn about how to improve and meet my goals. It was my first time sailing in this event, and it is probably one of my new favorites out of all the events I have ever been to. I greatly appreciate your support.

I arrived 2 days prior to the start of the event. The first day was Christmas and I spent it with my family. The next day was a day to get ahead for a practice day. That day was very good to get used to the waves, wind, and my charter boat. With that day I was able to fix any minor details on the boat to my liking before the event. On day one of the event, I arrived and rigged my boat. I was a little nervous because it was my first Orange Bowl, and international event that I had been to in a while. Even with the nerves I pushed through. We got out to the course and I did some warmups with the team. The wind was about 5-9 knots which is pretty good for me since I am a lighter kid. My scores that day were 19, 21, 6. My first 2 races were tough because I was getting used to the fleet and venue. On my last race of the day, the winds died drastically and I had a very good start which got me a very good score. Day 2 it was about 10-14 knots. For this day my qualifying fleet was very challenging, but I still tried my best. My scores that day were 13, 15, 18. I had qualified for the gold fleet and was in about 30th place.

Day 3 which was the first day of the championship. The wind was about 12-14 knots. There were many good sailors. I tried the best I could getting a 54, 38, 22. On the last day there was very little wind and we only got in one race that day. I got 40th place to end the regatta putting me in 37th place out of 215 sailors! I had such an amazing time at this event! Overall I grew so much as a sailor mentally and physically. Again, thank you so much for the support at this event! I now have a good idea of what to work on over the next few months as I continue to train for Team Trials.

2022 International Orange Bowl Regatta
Gage Christopher