Worlds done, Canada is IN!

This year's World Championship was my best Worlds ever!! I managed to finish up the regatta on a good note to finish 18th overall and 14th Nation, which means that Canada will be going to the Olympics in the Laser Radial Class in 2008!

Each day there was quite a bit of wind, and each day we were on a different course area. That meant that every day was never the same as the day before, which really made it quite interesting for everyone. After the first two days, when I managed to have a bad first race and a good second race, it was decided by my coach that I should go out a bit earlier and sail a 'mock race' to sort out the kinks so that I could sail a good first race of the day. Evidentally it worked for day 3! In fact, in the race that I finished 4th, I rounded the top mark in first... and here's proof!!


(photo courtesy of PTVela2007/JFF)

The Laser Radial class was the only fleet to sail on all of the five race areas set up for the event. On day 4, after a shocking morning where I managed to crack my head open... we sailed on course area 3. This was probably the craziest racing I've ever done. The winds there were SO shifty, with the wind ranging from 5 to 25 knots and with current cutting accross the course early on. The first race wasn't too bad, but the second one was completely crazy! (Race number 8) There were a few of us working up the race course in the middle to right hand side and though we weren't in the most breeze, we still looked okay... that is until the wind stopped completely on our side of the course. We literally stopped in our tracks and got to watch the entire fleet plane into the top mark! I don't think I'll ever forget day 4 of this years worlds!

Day 4:


Day 5:


Day 5 was going to see us back out on course area 5, but with the winds blowing upwards of 28knots and some major gusts measuring in at around 40knots there was no way anybody was going to race... unfortunately the race committee decided to wait until 6pm to actually call off the racing that day. I was actually quite nervous going into day 5 because it had finally hit me that I was doing pretty well. I was in 21st going into day 5 and for some reason I suddenly started to think about the results instead of just taking it one race at a time as I had been. It turns out it was probably for the better for me because with only one race left on day 6, I was just excited to go sailing and have fun. It took me the entire evening to get my head back on straight and realize that no matter what, I was happy with how I sailed this Championship and there was no reason to be nervous! Going into the final day of racing I was quite excited to race as the conditions looked a bit lighter and we were on the course that was the furthest away from shore, which meant that the winds wouldn't be as shifty as on the other courses, which is always nice. I didn't have my coach for the last day because she had a flight to catch, but I did my best to think of what she would say to me before the race and followed our usual plan to sail a practice race before the start. I'm happy I did that, but even still the conditions changed before the start and the breeze picked up. I sailed a good race and ended up 6th, which managed to bump me back into the top 20 and even moved me up in the rankings against the other nations. I was 17th nation and ended up 14th nation.


SO, what did I learn this event? I learnt that I actually CAN do it! I really had a terrible season early on and I was actually quite down on myself coming to the worlds. I didn't actually feel I was at a world championship when I got to Cascais, which was probably for the best. I simply sailed, and tried to learn something from each race, which I did! I really have to thank Tine Moberg-Parker and Katherine Wade for their support on the water. The coaching was fantastic! Thanks guys!

What's next?
I'm heading to Ireland for a few days before going home. My next event will be CORK Sail Kingston at the end of August. Other than that I'll just be in Vancouver for the next few months preparing for next years Worlds in Auckland. That's the big one as the top Canadian there will go to the Games.


(photo courtesy of PTVela2007/JFF)