50 skippers and their crews have made their way to the San Diego Yacht Club to kick-off a week of epic Snipe sailing in the Pacific Ocean. After prepping for day one of the Snipe US National Championship with a cocktail or two, hors d'oeuvres on the Sail Wash Lawn, and live music by the Snipe Fleet Band, the fleet was ready for the action out on the water.

This past June I got the great opportunity to sail an at home match race regatta, that being the USMRC. My primary goal in this event was to switch my brain back on to match racing, as I had not competed in this discipline in 2022. Additionally, I will be sailing the Governor's Cup, hosted by Balboa Yacht Club at the end of July. The Governor's Cup is an international match race regatta hosted in custom “Gov Cup 22s” which occurs each year, and is invitation only. 

San Diego provided some great early summer conditions, with perfect match racing conditions both days. As per usual, San Diego did a great job running the event and the J22s were a great platform. After day one I was leading the round robin, but unfortunately did not have the same success on the second day as I finished third overall. The event as a whole had a great energy to it, and attracted sailors from across the country to compete. Thanks to the competition club and San Diego Yacht Club for their continued support, and I’ll be back on the water soon!

Summer Update: Long Beach Youth Worlds Training Camp, West Marine US Open Sailing Series / 29er Nationals, and US Sailing Youth Championships

We have just wrapped up a three-week training and racing session that was made up of 5 days of training in Long Beach, 3 days of racing in San Diego at the West Marine US Open Series / 29er Nationals, 3 more days of practice in San Diego, and 3 days of racing in Mission Bay at the US Sailing Youth Championships.

The first stop in the West Marine US Open Sailing Series’ California tour comes to San Diego Yacht Club this week, June 17-19. Supported by Title Sponsor West Marine and National Sponsors Gowrie Group a Division of Risk Strategies and Gill Marine, this event features the ILCA 7, ILCA 6, 470, 29er, Finn, and Snipe. 

2022 C420 Midwinters in Jensen BeachWith conditions ranging from windy, stormy, and wet to warm, sunny, and light, this years C420 Midwinters Championship was extremely challenging and competitive. My skipper Emily and I never seemed to have a moment to relax, whether it be staying upright between races on the first day, or fighting for a spot on the line the next. The current was ripping from boat to pin, and the pressure could be quite unpredictable. The right often paid, so we usually set up near the boat in hopes that there would be an opportunity to tack once we sailed up course into the shallower water.  It was a great experience, and congrats to Peter Busch and Cam Spriggs for getting second place! SoCal crushed it, taking up many of the spots in the top 10!

After many weekends of training and practice we were ready for February 19th things finally came around for and 29er Midwinters East. This event is one of the biggest in our season as it is the first qualifier that determines which teams represent the US in the 2022 Youth Worlds.

Earlier in February, my skipper Anton Schmid and I traveled to Miami for the first of the Youth Worlds Qualifiers (YWQ) in the 29er class, MidWinters East (MWE).

We arrived on the Thursday before the regatta for a practice day. We towed out to the ocean from Miami Yacht Club, the host for the event, where we were met with 7-10 knots and a really big chop. We had a productive warm up session with our SDYC training partners Alice Schmid and Sammie Gardener, as well as Noah and Ian Nyenhuis.

Ian and I got the chance to travel to Miami for the 29er Midwinters East Regatta. This year, the regatta was the first part of the two-part Youth World Championship qualifier. The regatta was
held out of Miami Yacht Club and was raced in the ocean just south of Miami Beach. It is a place where we have raced several times before and were comfortable with our experience sailing at that venue. But one thing we have learned about Miami, like everywhere, is that anything could happen.