Sailing with Dolphins: the RS Feva World Championships, Clearwater Beach, Florida
Over the Easter holidays Alice Lucy and I travelled to Clearwater, Florida for the RS Feva Sailing World Championships where we competed against countries such as Czech Republic, USA, China, The Netherlands and more. The competition consisted of a series of races sailed over 5 days. We had a variety of wind conditions from no wind at all to very strong winds.
Over the winter we had been training hard with our sailing partners and four other boats to improve different aspects of the race, such as starts, hoping the extra practice would improve our performance in the competition. We trained every Saturday afternoon even in temperatures below freezing.
On the 29th of March we travelled from Heathrow airport to JFK and then got a flight to Tampa. We arrived late at our hotel Coconut Cove and were all very tired after a day of travelling.
Before the competition started we had training days. One day we trained with the Chinese and their coach which was really useful as we got a lot of advice about our sailing from them and their coach. We did activities which simulated a full racing day. We also made lots of new friends by meeting people from different countries.
Day 1:
On the first day of racing we were out on the water by 11 ready for 3 races. The tide played a big part on the start line as it was pushing us back behind the line. On the first upwind we had to battle against large chop in not much wind but were determined to keep going and made it round the course, getting a great result. By the second race the sea breeze had kicked in which brought a little more wind and it was a lot easier to race even though there were still big waves. Another great result! The third race saw over half of the boats, including ours, being black flagged (over the line at the start) as the tide had changed direction. Luckily for the people that weren’t over the line they received some fantastic results. Alice and her partner came 18th.
Day 2:
Day 2 started with a bit of waiting on the beach for some wind but eventually we launched and headed out to the race course. When we got out there the wind was very light and there was a huge swell. The first race got underway with Alice and I both getting a great start. As I approached the windward mark we rounded in about 15th but going a different way to most people down wind meant we finished 11th which was our best result so far. The second race began as the sea breeze kicked in and half way through the race it became very windy. Many of the heavier boats took advantage of this and the race leaders differed from the light wind racing which mixed up the positions a lot. The wind picked up throughout the third and fourth races and everyone was tired by the end.
Day 3:
The third day again saw not much wind. The wind picked up and we managed to do 3 races as planned even though the wind shifted direction by 180°. As we sailed back to shore that day we found ourselves sailing alongside dolphins and turtles.
Day 4:
The day started with 35mph wind which left us wondering if we were going to launch. After waiting on the beach for a while we launched into the bay ready for racing. In two difficult two races we got two good results even though we had some problems with our boat throughout the second race. We had to go to shore to fix our boat and made it out just in time for the third race. We had a great race; although we were late to the start we managed to catch up the other boats. However, during the first race Alice got badly hit on the head which resulted in her going to hospital in an ambulance to have a CT scan; luckily this showed everything was fine and she soon returned back to the hotel.
:
The forecast showed not much wind for the last day of racing. After a short postponement we launched. Race 1 began but was soon abandoned due to a lack of wind. After waiting on the water for 1:30 hours, the day of racing was abandoned as there was no sign of any wind.
After packing away all the boats there was a prize giving. GBR won almost every category including winning overall. We then had a team GBR party which was great for meeting new people and making friends.
Overall the trip was a great experience, racing against some older sailors who have more experience and learning from them to improve my sailing
Isabel Leetch, Year 8