Winter Break

Over this past winter break I had the opportunity to enjoy myself both on and off the water. While I was in town I spent more time sailing in the Falcon F18 and Viper F16, training different skills in each boat. A few days after Christmas my family and I traveled to the heart of our country, Washington D.C. While there we visited the US Capitol, Library of Congress, Ford's Theatre, and several museums that hold artifacts from American history. It was quite the humbling experience walking among the buildings where our country's officials, representatives, and leaders work on a daily basis. Aside from seeing the national landmarks, I was able to spend some quality time with my family and on New Year's Eve we all gathered for a large family dinner. During this trip I also saw A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens acted on stage in Ford's Theatre and after reading the play in one of my high school English classes I was fascinated by how closely the actors stayed to the original script. This trip unfortunately came to an end and after walking around the town one final time in the snow that had fallen overnight my family and I returned back to our warm home.

Supreme Court of the United States

Since my arrival back home I have been devoting my time to preparing for the second ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier which will be held next weekend, January 18-20, in Miami, FL. I would like to thank the McDonalds and Falcon Marine for allowing Sam and I to test out their new Falcon F18. This boat is definitely a fast and versatile design that performs in all conditions. During the upcoming week I will continue to update this blog with results and media from this event as well as some of my plans for the future.

Library of Congress

Ford's Theatre, where Lincoln was assasinated

Falcon F18

These past few weeks have been quite busy with both academics and sailing. I have managed to complete my remaining college applications, begin looking for scholarships, and finish my last few school assignments before the break. I have also recently competed in the Junior Olympic Sailing Festival in Jensen Beach, FL in the Club 420 class. This was my first Club 420 regatta and with only a few days of training prior to the event my teammate and I placed 5th overall after two days of racing in light winds and shifty conditions.

In addition to competing in this regatta I have had the opportunity to sail the Falcon F18, a newly designed boat that is built on the East coast of Florida. This boat has more volume in the hulls than many other F18 designs as well as a well cut sail plan made by Glaser Sails in California. Sam and I will be able to sail the Falcon a few more times in the upcoming week and I will be uploading more photographs of our sailing action.

F18 Americas Championship

This past week I chose to miss four days of school in order to take advantage of a unique opportunity. The F18 Americas Championship was held out of my local sailing club, the Sarasota Sailing Squadron, and I decided to miss school in order to compete. Prior to this event I spent two days a week practicing with Sam, my teammate, perfecting our boathandeling maneuvers and boatspeed. We had spent a large amount of time training in the F16 before the summer so the transition to the F18 was not too drastic; however this larger boat is much more powerful so we had to alter our mark roundings and depowering techniques to accommodate this increase in power.

I started out the week of racing by competing in the annual Buzzelli Multihull Rendezvous. This regatta served as the Stiletto Nationals and a great warm up for the upcoming Americas Championship. We had eight boats registered for the F18 fleet but around fifteen boats raced on our course. We were able to get five races off on Saturday but on Sunday we were unable to get any races off due to a lack of wind. The sea breeze fought the remains of a front for the entire day, creating glass water and cloudless skies. Fortunately we had a several top finishes in the races that were sailed and we finished this regatta in first place.

Tuesday was the first day of racing for the Zhik F18 Americas Championship and the conditions were similar to those in the Buzzelli Multihull Rendezvous. We had light wind for the first four races of the regatta and we took wins in two of these four races, but unfortunately we were OCS in race 3. This score became one of our discarded races for the regatta and hurt us initially in the overall results. Wednesday brought completely different conditions than what we had raced in the previous days. Another cold front caused a rapid drop in temperature overnight and created a strong frontal breeze consistently blowing in the upper teens that lasted up until Saturday morning. We made and achieved our goal for the windy races: finish within the top fifteen in order to remain in contention for a spot within the top five. We were not the fastest boat out on the race course on the windier days, but we used our local knowledge and tactical experience to keep us in the front of the pack. We made several mistakes during these races, including beginning races with second row starts and not capitalizing on our gains in the fleet while we could; however we quickly learned and saw consistent improvements throughout the regatta.

Video is the property of Sam Greenfield. Thank you for putting this great video together for us! It truly highlights what youth multihull sailing is all about!

Saturday presented more light wind conditions in the Sarasota Bay. We got one final race off to end the regatta and Sam and I were able to put all the pieces together and pull off a win. This race moved us up from fifth place to fourth and we ended the regatta as the second junior team which included sailors aged 23 and younger, third American team, and fourth place overall.

This regatta taught me many lessons over the course of a whole week. I learned how to manage a large catamaran fleet as we had 56 boats out on the course. Managing a big catamaran fleet uses different tactics than the management of a large dinghy fleet; boatspeeds are much higher and it is slow to make several tacks to cover the fleet. I learned how to get first row starts on a long starting line in a big fleet and how to pace myself during a long and tiresome regatta, especially while on the starting line. One single bad start, such as our one OCS of the regatta in race three, makes it much more difficult to finish in the top of a large fleet. This race initially put us out of the top ten, but through hard work and persistence on the race course we were able to work ourselves back into the top five. Seventeen races also take a toll on a sailor both mentally and physical by the last day of an event and it is important to use free time between races and while off the water to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each day so improvements can be made. This entire week was a once in a lifetime opportunity to compete in this regatta against world renown sailors at my home venue and I am glad I chose to take four days off from school for this event. It is commonly said that having the home field advantage helps, but our results at this regatta show how much we have been training and how this hard work pays off.

The full regatta site is here.

Results for the regatta can be seen here.

Pictures taken by Tim Wilkes here.

All regatta reports from Scuttlebutt can be found here.

All of the regatta videos from each day can be seen here.

Catsailingnews.com posted several reports about the event that can be found below:
Preview
Day 1 Report
Day 2 Report
Day 3 Report
Day 4 Report
Catsailingnews Final Report
Final Report by Annie Gardner

The Remainder Of This Year

The beginning of my final academic school year of high school has arrived and with that also comes an increase in my workload. Since I am enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program I have a different set of graduation and diploma requirements than the typical high school student. IB students must complete projects called Internal Assessments in each of our classes throughout the school year. IB students are also required to write an Extended Essay over summer. I won't go into details about each of these assignments but it is fair to say that they have taken up the majority of my free time. Fortunately, I am still able to sail several days a week if I budget my time according to my schedule. Over the next few months I am planning on racing in several high caliber regattas, including the F18 America's Championship that will be held at my home club, the Sarasota Sailing Squadron. Prior to this event is the Buzzelli Multihull Rendezvous which is a smaller event in memory of an avid multihull sailor. These events will provide world class competition and I am excited to meet, sail against, and learn from this competition.

I will continue to keep you updated on my sailing and life experiences!

The regatta site for the 2013 F18 America's Championship is here.

Labor Day Regatta

This past weekend I participated in the 2013 Labor Day Regatta, an annual event hosted by my home club in Sarasota. I decided to compete in my Laser Radial rather than in a multihull and this proved to be a wise decision as this boat posed challenges that I had not faced during the several regattas I attended this summer. Sailing in a slower monohull  has several disadvantages. First of all, the boat does not move nearly as fast as a high performance catamaran. Also, the races take longer. Finally, the boat is sailed by one person which forces all the decisions onto the skipper. However, this boat also provided several challenges that tested my skills, taught me new techniques, and placed me in different tactical situations on the race course. By choosing to sail the Laser in this regatta I now had opportunity to practice starting more aggressively with the increased maneuverability of the boat. Also, since the boat moves more slowly through the water than a multihull, I had more time to analyze the shifts and make tactical decisions. This boat drastically slowed down the pace of racing and helped me focus on the fundamentals of boat-on-boat tactics. The weekend's sailing conditions were tough to manage as it rained in the mornings of both days of the regatta and we were presented with light and variable winds in the afternoons, however the race committee still managed to complete five races in the tough conditions. Even though I did not place as well as I had hoped and came in 6th overall, I had the opportunity to refresh some of my basic sailing skills and improve in close tactical situations and I was able to enjoy my three day weekend with my friends and teammates on the beautiful Sarasota Bay.

Sunset over the Sarasota Bay

US Youth Sailing Championship

This past week Nico Schultz and I emerged victorious after a long and tiring regatta in Corpus Christi, TX and were named the 2013 US Youth Multihull Champions. We decided earlier in the year to begin training together for this regatta, the US Youth Sailing Championship, for several reasons. First of all, this regatta also holds the title of US Youth Multihull Championship. Also, it is the first of two qualifying regattas that name the members of the 2014 US Youth Worlds Team which will be traveling to Tavira, Portugal for the 2014 ISAF Youth World Championship. We trained weekly in the F16 together up until I left for Cyprus. After that we were unable to practice together because we were both traveling to different places at different times. We were finally reunited in Corpus Christi a few days before the event, allowing us some time to rig the boat and work out any kinks in our teamwork before the championship began.

The conditions we encountered at this event were predictable yet challenging. We woke up every morning to a light breeze that was farther to the right than was predicted for the afternoons. At around eleven o'clock to noon the wind would die and then shift to the left, squaring off to the land, and would progressively build to speeds reaching the upper teens with the occasional gust over twenty knots. This posed challenges for Nico and I as we are a lighter team, yet through hard work during racing and the use of energy-saving tactics while waiting between races we were able to remain consistent with our finishing positions and ended up winning twelve of the fourteen races sailed in the regatta.

During our down time some of the sailors decided to take advantage of the venue, particularly the breakwater separating the yacht club from the bay, and went kiteboarding, putting on a show for the locals.

Sailing in Corpus Christi served as my second time participating in a sailing event in Texas, but it was an experience to be remembered. The racing, the competitors, and even the near-unbearable heat all combined to make this event unique. I am happy to have had the opportunity to sail in this event and would recommend spending some time sailing in Corpus Christi, especially if you like big breeze!

US Sailing wrote several recaps of the regatta that provide information on all the racing classes.

Day 1 Recap
Day 2 Recap
Day 3 Recap
Day 4 Recap

Also Nico and I are featured in several videos from the event and were interviewed in the day two recap video. Check it out!

Day 2 Highlights Nico and I are interviewed.
Day 3 Highlights
Youth Champs Wrapup

National Champions

This past weekend Sam Armington and I sailed up in Racine, Wisconsin competing at the 2013 Formula 16 National Championship and after four long days and fourteen grueling races we came out on top of the competition! We won seven of the fourteen races which gave us a decent buffer early on in the regatta and which gave us one simple task for the remainder of the regatta: hold that lead. The conditions were excellent, race management was very efficient on and off the water, and the locals of the venue embraced us traveling sailors with a warm welcome.

For the first three days of the regatta we were greeted by a northerly breeze that ran near parallel to the shore that later shifted farther to the right, reducing the effect the land had on our race course. The wind strength was within the range of 5-10 knots while we were racing, yet we still had a large amount of swell build up. This provided interesting conditions that allowed for surfing waves both upwind and downwind. Consistently high boatspeed was a key factor that helped keep Sam and I up in the front of the pack and once we were up there it turned into a battle between the top boats.

On the final day of the regatta we had a significantly stronger breeze, ranging from 10 knots to gusts in the upper teens, that was from the opposite direction, the South. The chop quickly built up and made for some fun mark roundings, downwind legs, and spectacular wipeouts by a few of the competitors. After the final day's racing we took the boats completely apart and loaded the trailer, preparing it for its long trip to Corpus Christi.

This regatta had a great turnout of competitors with a large amount of the F16 sailors within the youth age bracket. We also had a team travel all the way from Europe to compete with us. Gunnar Larsen decided to join us this weekend and he helped bring the level of competition up a notch. I learned a lot this past weekend both on and off the water, however Gunnar brought to my attention the importance of still having fun in the midst of all the competitive racing. Without having fun athletes end up hitting plateaus and brick walls in their careers that they cannot overcome.

This regatta would not have been possible without many people who help organize transportation, housing, and the regatta itself. A huge thank you goes to the Chu family for housing not only myself but over a dozen other sailors this past week. Also, without the coordination and organization of Red Gear Racing I would not have had a boat to use at this event nor would I even have come to this event. Jim Zellmer, my multihull coach in Sarasota, also plays a huge part in my development as a sailor and as an individual and without him I would not be where I am now in my sailing career. And, of course, nothing I do in my life would be possible without the help and support of my family. I have one more regatta this summer before school starts: the US Youth Championship in Corpus Christi, TX. Time to gear up for that event

Preparing for a mark rounding in heavy breeze.

Heading upwind on the practice day.

The final results.

After browsing a few of the sailing websites that I regularly check up on I discovered that catsailingnews.com and the US F18 class website both included reports about this past weekend's event. If you have a moment check out these articles as they provide a different perspective and additional information about the F16 National Championship/Central Coast Championship.

Catamaran Racing, News and Design

US Formula 18 Association website

Also, if you have not already seen this site, the actual regatta site had several daily reports about the weekend's racing. C4 Regatta Site

During the 2013 F16 Nationals one of the media reporters came over to the sailors who had just arrived on shore after each day's racing and interviewed the top teams. Here's what we all had to say!

Interview from day 2

Interview from day 3

Interview from day 4

Welcome to Wisconsin

On Monday I flew into the airport in Milwaukee and drove over to Racine where the 2013 F16 National Championship is going to take place. I spent my first day here rigging the boat from the ground up as I previously had to take it completely apart to load it into Red Gear Racing's trailer. On my second day I finally hit the water and was greeted by icy chills when we pulled the boat down the launch ramp. The one thing I will never get used to here is the how cold Lake Michigan's waters are compared to Florida's. It is definitely a necessity to have cold weather gear here year round. Racing starts Friday and it looks as though we are going to have a competitive fleet here that consists primarily of youth sailors but also some veterans who have countless nautical miles under their belts. It'll be interesting to see how this weekend plays out!

2013 ISAF Youth World Championship

This past week was an experience unlike others I have had in the past. High levels of competition, international interaction, and new friendships were all factors that made this event a huge benefit to myself both as a sailor and as an individual. I am very grateful for having this opportunity to travel abroad and I am applying the lessons learned this past week to better myself both on and off the water.

I arrived in Cyprus with my family on July 12th early in the morning and was surprised by the landscape; I had expected to see a tropical island with a large abundance of green and vegetation, however instead I saw dry desert-like land and old buildings. This scene made me realize how different this part of the world is compared to my home. My family and I spent our first day getting accustomed to the time change, meeting the other US teammates and our coaches Andrew Campbell and Zach Brown, and learning about the city of Limassol.

The Ajax Hotel in Limassol, Cyprus.

I ended up staying with the US team in one of the three regatta hotels. Several other countries were also staying there and this allowed us to introduce ourselves and make some new international friends. We received our sailing equipment on Saturday, two days before the event, after waiting in the long line for regatta registration behind many other countries. After taking some time to get the boats set up and tuned to our liking, we were finally able to head out on the water for a short one hour practice. Sam and I paired up with the SL16 team from Singapore and got in some valuable practice time before heading in and returning back to the hotel. Sunday was our first official practice day which we used to set our pace for the rest of the regatta. We got up at the same time as we would for the rest of the week, rode the bus to the venue, sailed at approximately the same time of day that we would be racing, and headed back to the hotel for dinner after a long day out in the sun. The entire day went without too much excitement, except for a broken mast on the French SL16. Luckily the boat suppliers had a spare that they interchanged with the broken spar.

Monday began racing for the regatta. The entire week followed a consistent schedule which provided excellent racing conditions. We would head out on the water at around 11:30 and get three races done every day, except for the final day where we only had one race scheduled. The conditions couldn't have been any better; the wind filled in at around 11:00 every day and built as the day progressed into the 12-15 knot range with the third and fourth days of racing building to 15+ knots. The water, a deep blue color, provided decent sized waves that posed a challenge for the SL16s as they tend to stuff their bows into the back of waves on the downwind. This made for some big gains on the downwinds for the teams that had good control of their boat and caused some interesting wipeouts!

The racing during the week was at a level that I was not used to. All of the top teams had as good if not better boatspeed than me and called sound tactics out on the racecourse. One significant disadvantage that Sam and I had was a lack of experience in the boat. The SL16 is very different from the typical multihull that we sail in that it lacks daggerboards. This causes it to power up less quickly and to slide sideways in the water more than I am used to occurring. Several of the teams in the top five had attended the SL16 World Championship prior to the ISAF Youth Worlds and placed very well, showing their expertise in the boat. I believe that if I had gained a significant amount of experience learning how to sail this boat to its full potential prior to this event I would have been able to execute tactical decisions with less worrying about boatspeed issues. Regardless of this, I am very happy with how I performed at this event and I see that I can only improve from here.

Leeward mark rounding competing with Belgium and Spain.

Overall, I learned a lot at this event and created new friendships that will last the remainder of my sailing career. The experience that I gained at this event will greatly benefit my sailing in the future, but this entire trip would not have been possible without the support of my parents and entire family, coaches Zach and Andrew, and all the other individuals who helped organize US Sailing's participation in the 2013 ISAF Youth World Championship.

Team USA during the opening ceremony parade.

Sam and I with our coaches Zach Brown (left) and Andrew Campbell (right).

During the event the US team had a blog that was updated with news about all the sailors. A link to this blog can be found here. Check it out!

Destination London

These past few days were spent wandering the streets of London, occasionally stopping by the famous landmarks that we passed by. During our stay we were able to see many of the main tourist attractions, including Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, and the Tower Bridge. What really stood out to me during our visit was the cultural diversity in this city. There were food stands for almost all the major cultures, shops appealing to the current trending styles, and all sorts of spoken and written languages surrounding us as we walked along the streets. I enjoyed this diversity and realized that America is just a small grain of sand compared to all the different nationalities that are spread around the world. This trip is just beginning and it's already an eye opener!