Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation: Sailor Stories

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

Maddie Nichols at the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta

Posted Jan 04, 2022

Sailors: Maddie Nichols

Thank you so much for supporting my first ever Optimist regatta, the Orange Bowl, which took place in Miami, Florida. I wanted to gain some experience in the Optimist because I had only sailed it once before, so completing a week-long clinic hosted by Coral Reef Yacht Club familiarized myself with the nature and skills required to succeed in the large and competitive Optimist fleet.

Learning to rig the Opti sail required much patience due to the lack of forgiveness and the multiple square knots you had to tie, which was a unique feature along with the sprit pole, which attaches to the mast and runs diagonally to the head of the sail to hold it up. If there was too much tension, then there would be wrinkles in the sail, and if there was too little tension, there would be wrinkles going across the sprit. Learning this during the clinic was surely a challenge but after a couple of days, I was able to get the hang of it and feel somewhat familiarized with the different controls.

During the clinic we did a lot of boat handling drills, and I was able to practice boat speed and my roll tacking, which were both a challenge to perfect since you couldn’t pinch in a puff and you had to be very forceful with your tacks, unlike the sabot. On the second day of the clinic, I had just left the dock, and I saw a dark grey cloud that was coming towards us. All the sailors were yelling to go back before the rain started. Unfortunately, I was too late, and the heavy rain began coming down furiously and I could barely see in front of me. I got back into the dock safely, and I will never forget that experience. The last day of the clinic the coaches hosted a mini regatta, and with the wind being light, I could focus more on tactics, which helped me to finish top of midfleet every race and one top 10.

The first racing day at the Orange Bowl regatta all 200 Opti’s were placed equally in three separate flights. The sun was very hot, and the wind was extremely light, so I knew it was crucial to stay hydrated and energized to be able to think clearly. The second day promised better winds, and we were able to complete 4 races total. Each of my races I finished around mid-fleet, and sometimes even top of mid-fleet, which granted me a spot in the silver fleet. The third day of racing the wind was similar to the second day, and I was confident I could get better starts. Two of the races I had were great, but sadly one of the races I got black flagged at the start, and the other race I had a bad start. The last day of the regatta the postponement flag went up and stayed up most of the day because of lack of wind so we were only able to sail one race that day, but I was able to sail clean lines, round marks and overtake boats on my way to the finish line. I learned so many new things in Miami and am so grateful my parents took me to be able to sail in this regatta. This was my first back east event, and I look forward to many more.

Thank you so much to the foundation for supporting me! I really appreciate it.

2021 International Orange Bowl Regatta
Maddie Nichols