Upon finishing my successful first ever world cup I then made my way straight to La Rochelle in the team van, ready to prepare for the upcoming Laser Europeans, one of the biggest events of the year.
Getting straight back into training once we arrived we were greeted with some of the craziest on the water conditions I have ever sailed in. Massive pressure differences, 60 degree shifts and variable tides meant it really was an exciting build up to the event!
Racing was like a game of snakes and ladders.
Exiting a tack in training. Really need to work on my facial expressions!
A busy start line in training.
After 4 days on the water training I finally felt ready to go out and give it everything.
But first a rest day! And what better way than to go and explore the beautiful city of La Rochelle celebrating Nick Thompson's birthday.
La Rochelle City
La Rochelle City
Finally race day was here! We had some awesome conditions...
... and I got some awesome starts!....
.... a trend which continued throughout the week.
Despite my good starts I didn't sail to my full potential as I struggled to really understand the conditions. I qualified for gold fleet and set myself the task of moving up through the fleet. Whist my starting wasn't quite as good I still had some great moments and finished in 48th overall and 34th European.
So the Europeans finished and luckily this year it didn't require a trip to hospital! It was very nice to have had some great starts but disappointing to just miss my target of top 30 European. I know, however, that this will sort me out very well for the rest of the season and am looking forward to putting the hammer down.
Lovely sunset over the Isle of Wight viewed from the ferry on the way home.
128 Likes, 3 Comments - Sam 🐳 (@samwhaley97) on Instagram: "First Waszp sail in a while 😎 #foilinggybe #waszp #sailing #chill #easy #swanage #sunset..."
It's great to finally be home after being away for almost 2 months and even better that the weather is now completely different - it's actually summer! As you can see from the video above I've been enjoying sailing the Waszp a bit as well as really putting a lot of effort in at the gym and on the bike exploring the beautiful Purbeck countryside.
Next up for me is Medemblik Regatta, in Holland, on Sunday where I will be away for a week. Really looking forward to getting back at it!
Thanks for reading,
Sam