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This was my first foray into the East Coast circuit but highly recommended event by our NHYC sailing director.
Naturally, I was nervous, seeing as my skipper and I had only competed in a few C420 local regattas thus far with mid-fleet results. I was told how much of a high wind venue this would be and we don’t get much of that so I didn’t know what it would really be like.
As always, our sailing director was spot on—and I had an incredible experience for my first East Coast Midwinter regatta.
We flew into Jensen Beach with some nerves and excitement, not knowing what to fully expect and wondering how many times our boat would capsize.
I could feel some anxiety building as we drove over the bridge and saw the white caps on the water below as winds gusted from 20+ knots. I mean, where was the evening glass off???
Practice days ranged from 20+ knots in hot, humid, sunny conditions to a softer 15 knot day with heavy downpours. Our goal was to try and keep the boat upright and (apparently) try and avoid the sandbars. We found two of them (sandbars).
I am happy with our results as we held our own and squeaked into Gold fleet, which was a pleasant surprise. Again, our expectation was, "get worked over but get used to the venue so next year you know what to expect and attack the course versus react to the conditions."
In addition to the regatta and racing, we had a really great time with our team (NHYC) and mixed it up with other sailors who were there from all over the country.
On and off the water, I had a great experience and can't wait to come back next year!