Winter Wrap Up

As I sit here on the plane heading back to Boston I have some time to reflect on the sailing I have done over this winter break. After the conclusion of the fall academic semester I packed my bags, picked up my trailer, and began the long drive down to Florida. On the trailer sat both the F18 and Nacra dealer Todd Riccardi’s Carbon 20 FCS, the 20 foot foiling catamaran on which I have the majority of my foiling experience. I arrived on Christmas Eve and during the afternoon of Christmas day headed down to the Sarasota Sailing Squadron to rig up the Nacra 20. I couldn’t wait to get out on this boat as every day on the foils is as exhilarating as last, if not more.

After a week of demo rides and practicing in all conditions, mixing distance and short course racing as well as straight line speed runs, it was time to pack up again and head down to Miami for the first M32 Winter Series event. I raced with team Escape Velocity on which my BU sailing coach is a member. Several days of boat prep and practice led up to the event and we were feeling quite happy with how we were doing in racing, but unfortunately disaster struck near the finish of the second race. A large front had pressed into the area earlier than expected and brought with it a very strong 20+ knot breeze. As we made our final approach to the mark before the last reaching leg a huge gust came down and both our and another team's masts broke. This brought an early end to our weekend, but allowed me to reassemble the Nacra 20 at Miami Yacht Club and head home early. Time on the water practicing is always beneficial and the days leading up to the regatta as well as the racing taught me more about how the M32 sails and how tactics change in this type of fleet.

Photos taken by M32 North America

I spent my last week in Florida coaching a young sailor from my former club, Sarasota Youth Sailing. He is new to the Sarasota multihull program and I took him under my wing for the week, coaching him in the F16. We ended the week by racing in a local multihull regatta, the 1st Annual Bluster on the Bay, and after 3 days of racing he had improved tremendously. It is great seeing how my Alma mater sailing program is continuing to thrive and how the younger generation of multihull sailors loves going fast as much as I do.

Now that I am returning to school my focus will shift back to my studies as I am taking my first classes in the Aerospace concentration. Balancing schoolwork will be tough, but I’m always up for the challenge.

I have made a few updates to my social media.

New YouTube account

Updated campaign documents

My biggest focus in sailing right now is raising funds for a MK2 Nacra 17. I intend to sell the Viper F16 and possibly the C2 F18 in order to afford this, but would also like to raise funds through sponsorships and donations.

Sponsorship Proposal

2017 Budget

Resume

Stay tuned for more!

2014 ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier

My teammate Nico Schultz and I have been officially named to the 2014 ISAF Youth Worlds Team and will be sailing in this event in Tavira, Portugal. This summer Nico and I will travel to Europe, meet up with ten other sailors that will also be representing Team USA, and compete in the most prestigious youth sailing event in the world. Each country that is able to support a team sends sailors to race in different boats including the Laser, I420, 29er, RS:X, and SL16. This will be my second year at the event and I will bring experience as well as a matured perspective that will hopefully be of benefit to all members of Team USA.

In order to qualify to be a member of this selective team, Nico and I competed at two qualifying events over this past year to demonstrate our commitment and skill in the multihull class. The first event, the US Youth Sailing Championship, took place during August in Corpus Christi, TX and presented us with rough sailing conditions and 15-20 knot winds every day. The second event, held during January in Miami, FL, differed from the first as we sailed in a mixed fleet of F16s and Nacra 17s and had more diverse atmospheric conditions. The members of Team USA were then chosen based on the combined results from the two regattas. This two-part qualification system gave sailors a chance to race at two venues and in different weather conditions, truly forcing consistency in racing results.

2013 US Youth Sailing Championship

Training was absolutely essential to our success in these two regattas. We spent our time in the months leading up to both events sailing F16s, F18s, Club and High School 420s, and various keelboats in order to gain experience racing against the level of competition we expect to face in Tavira. Of course it is essential to perfect boathandeling and speed in our specific class; however, we understood the importance of becoming well rounded athletes and did not limit ourselves to only multihulls. In addition to spending time sailing, we performed boat maintenance to make sure our equipment would function properly in use and improved our physical fitness by exercising regularly in the gym. Sailing is a physically demanding sport and as regattas are typically held over several days muscular endurance allows sailors to remain strong throughout an event.

A view of downtown Miami.

Now it is time for us to focus on the path that lies ahead. Nico and I are planning on attending several regattas in the near future, including the F16 World Championship. In late June F16 sailors of all ages from around the world will travel to Newport, RI and race in a five day regatta. The winners will become the new F16 World Champions and the top team from the United States will be named the F16 National Champion and take ownership of the perpetual trophy Sam and I claimed in Racine, WI last summer. Even though we will not be sailing together for this event, Nico and I will be able to use the experience gained from sailing in Newport and apply it to the Youth Worlds. We are both ready to display our hard work and commitment to our sport at upcoming regattas and I am especially excited about having a second opportunity to represent my country in Europe this summer.

To read the full press release on the 2014 ISAF Youth Worlds Team click here.

To read the full press release on the 2014 US Sailing Development Team click here.

Back to Miami Again

It has been a few weeks since my last post but I have been very busy with my sailing and scholastic activities! I spent a large portion of last week in Miami sailing on the Olympic class Nacra 17. This boat has curved centerboards, a carbon mast, and other features from fast cats such as the F16 and F18. I also had the opportunity to train against other American and international sailors with Olympic ambitions which proved highly beneficial both on the water and in our daily debriefs after sailing. The conditions in the Atlantic Ocean were excellent all week with a strong onshore breeze the first two days of training shifting to a stronger offshore breeze during the final day of training. The combination of deep blue water and strong gusty wind created rough conditions and big waves that posed a challenge for even the most experienced sailors. In addition to training among other Nacra 17s, I was able to sail around a few TP52s that were heading to their race course. Unfortunately, these boats were much faster than our small catamarans in the ocean's rough conditions and passed us very easily. By the end of the week I had improved upon several of my boathandling, tactical, and communication skills as well as formulated a training and competition schedule for the upcoming months. Now that I am back on my regular school and sailing schedule I will continue to update this blog at more regular intervals.

2014 Youth Worlds Representatives!

This past weekend my teammate Nico Schultz and I qualified to represent the US Sailing Team at the annual ISAF Youth World Sailing Championship this summer in Tavira, Portugal. In order to qualify for this spot on the US Sailing Development Team we had to be the top team at two qualification regattas; the first took place in August and the second this past weekend. We trained on the water several days a week in the months leading up to these events and our hard work showed in our results. Now we are looking forward to having this opportunity to race against the world's best youth sailors, learn from highly successful US Sailing Coaches, and create new international friendships that will last a lifetime.

Nico, his older sister Sophia, and I drove down to Miami trailering two F16s in order to compete in this regatta. In addition to an F16 fleet, this regatta consisted of other Olympic classes including 49er, 470, I420, windsurfing classes, and the new Nacra 17. The F16 class, due to it's very small fleet size (a measly 2 boats) was grouped with the Nacra 17s on the racing course so we had a large mixed fleet of 23 boats. This provided us with valuable experience on a crowded starting line and a very competitive fleet. The Nacra 17s, having curved daggerboards, were noticeably faster than the smaller F16s on the downwinds in the big breeze but overall we were very well matched with speed.

This regatta taught me several lessons about sailing in shifty frontal conditions. The puffy offshore Miami breeze was rather unpredictable at times, but I learned about effective fleet management and tactical proficiency in these conditions. Now that Nico and I have qualified for the Youth Worlds, we are organizing our training schedule and travel plans. It looks like this summer will be filled with some more traveling!

The regatta site can be found: here.

US Sailing Team Clinic: Miami

This past weekend I went with my teammate Sam Armington down to Miami to train with the US Sailing Team. This was a fantastic training opportunity because some of the top sailors in the country, including numerous medalists and Olympians, gathered in one convenient location to push each other to higher extremes. Each of the three days that we were there, Friday through Sunday, we listened to several talks on sail shape and characteristics, downwind strategies and tactics, physical fitness training, communication, and medal winning attitudes and mentalities. For the first time multiple high performance classes, namely the 470, 49er and 49er FX, F16 and Nacra 17, all united together to utilize each other's different strengths and focus on each other's weaknesses. F16 youth teams were invited to attend in an effort to incorporate more sailors into the clinic. On the final day, Sam and I sailed a Nacra 17 for the first time and on the water we trained several stadium-style races in an enclosed area. The flat water and puffy breeze presented tricky conditions that challenged even the most experienced sailors. After sailing the Nacra 17, all I can say is that this boat really flies! We only had one major wheelie on the downwind but it was a wild sensation, feeling the boat lift and smoothly exit almost completely out of the water. This clinic was an excellent opportunity to meet more speed-loving sailors and learn from highly renown coaches and competitors. I'm very happy we accepted the offer to sail at this clinic and I'm looking forward to utilizing more of these opportunities in the future!

Miami Boat Show

This past weekend I experienced the beautiful scenery of Miami once again. I traveled down there with my family for Saturday and Sunday to get away from our regular routines. While we were down there, we toured the University of Miami for a second time. The advantage of visiting for a second time was that we were able to attend an information session specifically targeting the College of Engineering, my school of choice at this university. Also, we spent some time at Strictly Sail Miami, one of the several boat shows this weekend. I saw the Motive trimaran for a second time and went aboard a Gunboat 66 that made us smaller catamaran sailors jealous. This trip was a excellent outlet for my family and I to escape for the weekend and spend some time together.

UM

This weekend my family and I took a trip to Miami to visit schools, particularly the University of Miami. This school's beautiful campus and top ranked programs really attracted my attention during my visit. The Schools of Engineering and Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science both stand out to me because of my interest in both the engineering and meteorological fields. I will definitely be applying to this school in the near future!

Orange Bowl 2011

Even though I did not place as well as I had hoped, the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta was a good learning experience and I had a good amount of fun on and off the water, especially while waiting for the wind to fill in! Off the water I attended the different club-organized dinners and events, including the college night where students from several colleges with sailing teams came down to speak to the older sailors. On the water we had varying conditions, including a steady 10 knot breeze with small chop to very little wind with lots of the infamous Miami powerboat wake. Here's some GoPro videos taken on the practice day.