Laser Radial Youth Worlds W O RD S: CH A RL ES RO BINS O N | IM AGES: EL EN A GIO L AI
Sailing
O
ver the summer I went to Europe to compete in the Youth ILCA6 (Laser Radial) World Championship. In the run-up to that, I also competed in the Europa Cup in Warnemünde. These were brilliant events and I learned a lot from going to both of them. I started off in Hamburg and then made my way up to Warnemünde for the Europa Cup. The first day of racing went really well but the learning curve was steep. Due to the fact that Covid had kept me in Hong Kong for the past two years, my experience with sailing with a big fleet was lacking to say the least. Starting on a line with a hundred boats is very different to starting with ten if I’m lucky. However, I had good boat speed and my tactical knowledge was enough to get me into the top half of the fleet. Day two was light and choppy with a fairly persistent breeze. My position in the first race was mediocre as I was struggling with boat speed slightly and a bad tactical decision set me back. In the second race, I was over the line and had to restart. The persistent breeze meant that gaining positions back was tricky which resulted in a below-average score. Day three of the Europa Cup was almost a blowout. The breeze was gusting 25+kts and a maximum wave height of three metres made it tough. We launched late after a long time onshore. Four black flags later
we started the first race. The wind was so powerful it physically hurt. By the time I got to the top mark my legs were dead and I was coming to terms with the fact I had three more to do. However, the downwinds were worth the pain of the upwind. Day four was a medium breeze which was still tough with the sore legs from the day before. Two mediocre results were enough to get me a 48th out of 90 and a 7th U17 overall. I then completed a week of training in Warnemünde before leaving for Italy to participate in Worlds. It took a brutal 17 hours to drive from Hamburg to Arco, Lake Garda. The first thing we did? Go to the local pizza place to have some of the best pizza I have/ will ever have. The next day was our first proper training day and the sailing was amazing. If anybody reading this ever has the chance to go to Lake Garda, I would highly recommend it. There was a consistent 20+kts Ora (the south wind) with perfectly sized waves. Luckily, we were able to train with some of the other teams and set up some practice races.
26
| DECEMBER 2021 AHOY!
