I arrived to Barcelona, Spain on May 29th to begin my two week trip to europe for the Laser European Championships. The Europeans is one of the most competitive regattas in the world each year, and it was my first time in Europe, so I was in for a treat!
After spending the afternoon walking around Barcelona, which is a beautiful city, I took the first train in the morning towards France. Armed with my Carbon Fiber tiller and two duffel bags of sailing gear (see top photo), I worked my way along the south coast of Spain and then France, often seeing the Mediterranean to the right and stopping in towns such as Narbonne, Cerrebe, Montepellier, Marseille, and Toulon. I finally arrived in Hyeres in the evening, and headed for the sailing area to look for a place to stay. Luckily, I was able to stay with fellow American Andrew Campbell and Aussie Tom Slingsby, who were very generous to take me in, and were fun to hang out with. In fact, Tom won the regatta, and is ranked second in the world!
After 3 practice days to tune up my charter boat and get warmed up, competition began on June 3rd, which was also my 25th birthday. The first day had a nice seabreeze building from 10 to 16 knots, and the competition was fierce! The fleet of 150 competitors was split into three qualifying groups of 50 each, and after the first 4 days of competition, the fleet would be split into Gold, Silver, and Bronze divisions. My goal for the regatta was to make the Gold Fleet. On day one I finished with a 12th and a 23rd in the first two races. US Sailing Team Coach Gary Bodie had some usefull tips for Andrew and I, and I was psyched to race for 5 more days.
The highlight of the regatta for me was on day two, when I won the first race of the day! The winds were light at about 4-6 knots, and it seeemed that there would be more wind to the left side of the course due to a point of land 2 or 3 miles upwind that was blocking the wind on the right side of the course. So I sailed up the left on the first upwind leg, went out a little further than the rest of the pack, and got a nice left puff all the way up the layline. I rounded the windward mark in second, but the first place sailor (American Zach Marks) was flagged for illegal body movements and had to do a 720 degree penalty turn. So I was in first all the way around the course, with a tricky Russian sailor nipping at my heels! It was incredibly fun to win a race, and I pumped my fist at Gary after the finish, feeling pretty good!
After the 4 day qualifying series, my scores were 12,23,1,12,30,25. That was enough for me to make the Gold Fleet and sail the last 2 days with all the best sailors in the world, including world champions, many olympians, and a lot of hungry competitors! I sailed well against them, finishing 32nd and 29th out of 50 in the two gold fleet races that we completed, and most importantly I learned from the experience. When you are surrounded by the best players in your sport for 10 days, you learn a lot, not only about their sailing style and technique, but also about how they eat, how they exercise, and how they think. I certainly learned just by staying with Tom, who eats more than anyone I've ever met! As Gary said, "I bet he works out a lot too". Good point coach! My overall finishing position was 41st out of 150.
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