Hi everyone,
Sorry for the lack of updates over the past month. It has been a very busy few weeks in preparation for two of the biggest events of the year for me - the Under 21 World & European Championships, held in Germany and Croatia.
First up was the World Championships in Kiel, Germany. I arrived with plenty of time to spare and settled in nicely to the venue and my accommodation. We had some excellent couple of days training pre-event before the first day of the competition arrived.
Preparations onshore ready for the start of the U21 Worlds in Kiel, Germany.
The regatta consisted of 2 races a day for 6 days in a row. A small mistake on the first day meant I didn't get the greatest beginning to the regatta however throughout the week I fought back hard to move up the rankings considerably and enjoyed some success, including a cheeky race win!
After my first ever race win at the World Championships!
It all came down to the last day of the regatta where things did not go my way. I was starting well but struggled to piece together the first half of the race to leave me with two poor results. This unfortunately dropped me down from 16th to 30th place overall, leaving me rather disappointed at my performance over that last day.
The start of Race 3 at the U21 World Championships.
Although my last day was not what I was hoping for I was happy with how I was sailing over the week and took a lot to learn away from the competition. It is also an honour to be ranked in the top 30 sailors of my age in the world and moving forward this result will only make me stronger as a person and as a sailor.
Immediately after the worlds finished I then had to fly to Split, Croatia, in preparation for the U21 Europeans which start tomorrow. Whilst my boat was kindly being driven from Germany by the team coach, I had a couple of days to relax and reflect before getting back into training and making sure I was fast & prepared for the competition ahead.
Flying from Kiel, Germany, to Split in Croatia.
The heat got too much for the team during a training session in Croatia!
Celebrating the return of Croatias first ever Olympic medallist in Sailing, Tonci Stipanovic.
The view from the sailing club marina looking over to the city of Split and the mountains in the distance.
With the Europeans starting tomorrow I am approaching them with a focussed mindset, positivity and a deep desire to win and hopefully should I perform well I can prove that I am one of the best and am here to win.
Sam