Hi guys,
Welcome to the June blog, hope you are all well. It has been a very exciting month for me and everyday is more and more thrilling as we get closer and closer to the Under-21 World and European championships at the end of July. Here is my timeline of what I have been up to in the past month!
I started June off by coaching some young Topper sailors in Poole Harbour. Having never really been involved in the coaching scene before (I've always been too busy focused on my own development!) it was really nice to get out on the water in a rib and coach our next generation of sailors. It was very windy and they did a great job of coping!
I then went on holiday to Perranporth in Cornwall for a relaxing few days on the beach mixed with a bit of surfing. Being the last time available for holiday before the Under-21 competitions, it was great to recover and refresh from my training and have fun in a beautiful coastal location. Check out how good this beach looks!
A lovely sunset whilst on holiday in Cornwall.
I then returned home for a couple more days of training in the Laser and the gym as well as mixing it up with some kayaking and Waszp sailing in the incredibly hot weather we had!
Next for me was Kiel Week, held in Germany. After loading our boats onto a big British Sailing Team trailer we headed off in the van towing our boats all the way to Germany. Unfortunately this journey happened to be at the same time as the thrilling Americas Cup matches on TV so not wanting to miss it we set up a livestream in the front using our coaches phone and connected it up to the van speakers. Win!
After a day of travelling we arrived in Germany and unloaded boats and set up our base camp with our tents. To save costs I decided to camp as it was quite easy and having a nice small, comfy tent it wouldn't be too bad as long as it didn't rain! Unfortunately the weather gods weren't looking too fondly on me that week and there was a lot of rain...
We had to think outside of the box for some things whilst camping. Here we set up a washing line to dry our sailing kit using an old mast and a mainsheet strung between a lamp post and car trailer. It worked surprisingly well!
Kiel Week is a huge festival not only about sailing and as a result there was a huge carnival style setup with many stands to visit. In the sailors lounge one company was giving away free cookies if we took a picture on the sofa so not wanting to turn away delicious food naturally my teammate Jack and I quickly agreed!
Can anyone spot me? I am sail number 209493 and wear a blue bib....
The racing over the week was very close and exciting with a variety of different conditions. I really found my groove in the windier stuff towards the end of the week and was thrilled to record my first international senior race win in race 6 of the regatta!
I then had a solid last day in gold fleet to move up the leader board even more to finish in 12th place overall out of 135 boats in total! Also being 2nd Under-21 I am thrilled with the result although know I can do a lot better which is very promising looking ahead.
After the final day of racing we watched the medal race with the top 10 before packing up and driving back home ot the UK.
Returning back home I was very excited to find my new kit for the Under 21 competitions had arrived. Many thanks to SANDILINE for supplying the kit which will enable me to perform at my very best (Loving the new design as well!).
I now have a few days back home to upgrade some parts on my boat before heading out to Holland for a final training camp with the Dutch Laser Squad before the Under-21 Europeans which start on July 14th. Exciting times ahead and I am feeling as confident as I have ever been. Lets do this!
Thanks for reading,
Sam