CSWA

This past week I have been absorbed in my studies, particularly in my Design Technology class. One of the goals in that course is to pass the Certified SolidWorks Associate test and after countless hours to studying and completing an entire book of tutorials a total of nine students including myself sat down for testing last night. Fortunately, all my hard work paid off at the end of the sitting when I passed the test with an hour to spare! Now for the remainder of the year I have made it a goal to pass the Certified SolidWorks Professional test, the next level of certification, as this will greatly supplement my resume and list of achievements.

Windy Days

This last week has provided conditions that were a little more than expected. After sailing the VX One this weekend, I had planned on sailing Sunday and Monday but both days brought wind speeds above 20 knots, keeping us Sarasota sailors on shore. While I wasn't spending time on the water, I began working on a school project for my English class. Oddly enough, this project did not directly pertain to the subject material we were going over in class; the assignment was to grow a yam or sweet potato and bring it in to school on the turn in date! So I planted my sweet potatoes and now they have grown into decently sized plants. This project has kept me busy and provides a suitable and productive distraction from my daily routine. Needless to say, while I'm not sailing I'll be tending to my sweet potatoes!

VX ONE

Today I had the opportunity to sail a VX ONE today on the beautiful Sarasota Bay. A couple of teammates and I triple-handed this boat in the medium breeze which ranged from 10 knots to the upper teens with mildly choppy waters. We raced in the One Design Midwinters, temporarily taking the place of some Sarasota Youth Sailing coaches on the boat for the day, and we ended up winning both of our races today, maintaining the lead that the SYS coaches built the previous day. This boat provided a relatively new experience to us in the realm of monohull sailing: high speeds planing downwind! As soon as we rounded the top mark we were able to send this boat flying downwind at speeds that about matched the windspeed. Today I learned how different newer concept boats are becoming and how to sail a larger, flatter-bottomed keelboat efficiently and I'm happy that I was able to work on tactical situations with my teammates and the other competitive sailors on the water.

Sarasota Sailfest

Sarasota Youth Sailing's annual Sailfest regatta is coming up! This local regatta is a great event for both novice and experienced sailors of all classes. Laser, 420, Opti, and even multihull classes all race on the beautiful Sarasota Bay; multihulls were incorporated into the regatta a few years ago and have presented a strong fleet ever since. In fact, if there is enough interest in a class that has not been represented at the regatta in the past and at least five boats register, they will receive their own start and possibly their own awards!

This regatta is run by Sarasota Youth Sailing and proceeds directly benefit this growing program.

Spring Break!

Ahhh, a much-needed change from the tedious routine of school has finally arrived. And what better way to spend it than sailing in one of the country's best venues? It's over a week into March and while the northern states are enduring snow and cold weather us Floridians are still able to spend time at the beach and walk around in shorts and flip flops. While the tourists who plague our streets are heading to the beaches and shops, I am driving down to the Sarasota Sailing Squadron to continue practicing and enjoying time out on the water. This time off from school allows me to catch up on some maintenance work and implement new setups on the boat that I wouldn't have the time to try out during the regular school schedule. This week is going to be very productive! I also got the chance to visit my teammate Sam at his father's shop where he is finishing up his new A-Class catamaran build. He and another teammate both built their own boats and regularly update their blog with news of their endeavors. The beauty of multihull sailing in Sarasota is that we are able to compete with a wide variety of different designs in many different classes. We have Falcon F16s and F18s, APHC boats, a Hobie Wildcat, Nacra F18s, and now A-Class catamarans all in the same venue on a daily basis! Come out and join us when you can!

Nacra Infusion MK2

Falcon F18

AHPC Viper

Falcon F16

            

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!

Falcon F18

Over the past week I was presented with the opportunity to sail the new Falcon F18 by Matt McDonald, which was a different experience from the other F18 designs out there. It was an interesting and severe change from sailing Vipers and Nacras on a daily basis as the setup and design was different from what I was used to. It still made for a fun and exciting ride! This upcoming week I'm heading down to Miami to train in F16s and N17s with some of the potential future Olympic candidates. This weekend should be exciting and productive!

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.

School and Sports

Over the past few weeks I took both the SAT and ACT. My scores on these two tests will help gain my acceptance later on into my schools of choice. The difficulty of these tests made me realize that it is a challenging world out there in both academics and a future career. Sure, it would be great to sail professionally but only a very small portion of the entire youth sailing community progresses to competing at that level. I am realizing that it is important to strive in school and progress into an enjoyable career in the future, all the while sailing as much as possible. I am becoming more and more interested in the fields of materials, aeronautical, and mechanical engineering because they involve properties and concepts that can be directly applied to sailing and other water sports. I would like to keep my passion for sailing directly involved with my profession, and engineering appears to be that outlet. But it all starts with good grades and test scores! I'm currently focusing primarily on my academics at the moment but am still refining smaller skills on the water and am maintaining my fitness in the gym.

F18 North Americans

The 2013 Formula 18 North American Championship is going to be held in the beautiful Sarasota Bay. There couldn't be a better venue for this event! We have clear water, sandy beaches, reliable wind with the trusty sea breeze in the afternoon, and the option to sail in both the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It's going to be exciting seeing hundreds of high performance catamaran sailors all in one place. The weekend before the event is the annual Buzzelli Multihull Rendezvous, a local memorial regatta for Bob Buzzelli, which will serve as a warm up for the championship in the following week. This event is going to be full of the best sailors competing at our home venue and will show the locals of the Sarasota-Bradenton area what sailing is all about!

The best venue for sailing!