Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation: Sailor Stories
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Madison Jo at the 2024 CFJ National Championship
Maddie was excited but nervous when she was asked by her coaches to skipper at CFJ Nationals. It was not part of the original plan for the summer as she had been focusing on Sabot Nationals, her had only been doing CFJs for less than a year, and most of that time was as a crew member. However, her coaches at NHYC felt she should get the experience and fellow (high school) sailors reiterated how she should get as much CFJ experience before she begins high school. That being said, she jumped at the opportunity and with less than 2 weeks to prepare--she had to adjust her training and she had an absolute blast. She went into the regatta with zero expectations and she placed 15th overall, which was about middle of the pack. At the end, she was very pleased with her decision, since it was her first experience as a skipper in a CFJ and showed her that she had the skillset to do well and knows she has plenty of runway to continue making more improvements. Sailing has been a fantastic outlet for Maddie and we couldn't be happier with how much she loves to be on the water!