Update

Unfortunately my chronic fatigue has flared up again resulting in my withdrawal from the Laser Nationals. I've discussed the matter with my parents, my doctor, and Laura and I feel at this stage I need to take some time off competitive laser sailing until I know my body can handle the demands of campaigning. This was a very difficult decision for me as I still have big dreams and ambitions for sailing - hopefully I can get my health back on track and come back to them. 

Thank you for your support over the years. 

Gabe

Nationals

Unfortunately I have had to retire from the Nationals. I have been having some issues with my chronic fatigue again. It was a very difficult decision for me, but I have learnt I have to put my health first.

Thanks,
Gabe

Seasons Greetings

It's hard to believe it's already the holiday season! After the Worlds in Perth I spent some lovely time catching up with friends. I'm now up in northern NSW for Christmas with my parents and then I'll be heading up to Brisbane for the Nationals.

Thank you for your continuing support, I am so very grateful.

Wishing you a very merry Christmas,

Gabe

NSWIS awards night

Well its been a busy month full of sailing, exams and travel.

Sail Melbourne was on at the start of November. It was the first chance in a while to do some nice big fleet racing and we had quite a good fleet in the radials. It was a valuable regatta to do with some tricky conditions and tight racing, definitely a good platform to identify and address some weaknesses. A major achievement for me was making some major progress in my starting which hopefully I can carry over into the Worlds. I also came away feeling quite confident in my speed in most conditions, especially on the downwinds.

From Sail Melbourne it was straight back home to sit my uni exams (thanks to UNSW for being so accommodating). It's definitely nice to have that out of the way so I can now just concentrate on sailing, as during Sail Melbourne I was studying before and after sailing.

I also attended the NSWIS awards night where I was a finalist in the Academic Excellence category. I was thrilled to win the award! It was a fantastic evening full of inspirational people all pursing excellence.

Now I'm in Fremantle (WA) in the final days of preparation before the Worlds. The weather here is glorious and I've had some great training with Laura Baldwin (coach) and Krystal. Today is a rest day and I've been enjoying curling up on the couch reading a book.

Looking forward to racing starting on the 5th!

Cheers,
Gabe

Coasts

On the weekend I went up to Toronto on Lake Macquarie for the NSW & ACT Laser Association Coast Championship. Lake Macquarie was as beautiful as always and Toronto Amateur Sailing Club were very welcoming and made everyone feel at home.

Day 1 was light and tricky. My speed was good and I had a fairly good overview of what was going on and managed to get two bullets. Day 2 was also tricky, with the breeze coming and going and shifting around a lot. I was trying to put myself in tricky situations that I would normally avoid and so ended up doing 720s in 2 of the races. But it was good because I learnt a lot about what works and what doesn't and I'll be able to take that into the major regattas coming up where I want to know my limits. I was also trying to really push my starts, and got done on an individual recall in one race. Again, I'm very happy about this as it means I'm starting to get over my long-term fear of the start line. But it did mean I spent a lot of the day playing catch-up...

I finished 2nd overall and 1st woman. I had a great weekend, really enjoyed the tricky conditions, and it was great having some other boats to play with.

Thanks,
Gabe

Ladies Laser Clinic

On the weekend I went up to Sunshine on Lake Macquarie where SLMASC was hosting a Ladies Laser Clinic. Well Sunshine held up to its name and we had beautiful weather and a great turnout with 20 ladies showing up. Coaching were Laura Baldwin (who organised the event), Alex South and myself. I had a fantastic time meeting some new people and being able to give back to the sport that I love so much. Thanks to YNSW, the NSW&ACT Laser Association and PSA for supporting the event. 

Aside from that I’m still busy studying and training continues as normal: spending time on the water, in the gym and on the bike. I’m really looking forward to the Summer regattas and competing again, with the main focus being a good result at the ISAF Worlds in Perth (our final selection event for the Olympics). 

Cheers,

Gabe

Kiel

Kiel Week continued the trend of wind in Europe and was a fantastic regatta to finish my Europe Campaign on. It has such a great atmosphere with all the festivities of Kieler Woche going on, and any regatta that has strawberry picking and crepes is going to be good!

It was a smaller fleet then Sail for Gold, but tricky racing kept everything tight, and meant it wasn't over until you crossed the finish line. The clouds had a lot of (confusing) influence on the wind, and most days we saw 4 seasons in a race as the weather went from sunny to rainy to cloudy and back again, and the wind strength varied to suit. One race in particular a massive rain squall came through on the last upwind, and my motivation was "got to get to the top mark before the rain stops and the wind dies." Luckily hiking hard pays off, and I came 4th in that race.

There were some long days on the water, as 10 races were scheduled in just 4 days. So we kicked off the regatta with a monster 3 race day. On the plus side, it made 2 races the next day seem like a breeze!

Day 4 saw us go out and bob around on the water waiting for the wind to come. After over 5 hours on the water the race committee cancelled racing for the day. In some ways it was a relief as it looked like it was going to be a very random day, and I sitting in 7th with a nice buffer. So it was on to the medal race!

The only piece of bad news for the whole trip is that on arriving on the morning of the medal race I discovered someone had stollen my rudder. Jared saved the day and lent me his and I'm sure Karma will catch up with the thief.

It was my first proper medal race, which was very exciting. Held on the course area close to the harbour meant there was lots of land influence and little shifts to play. I had a solid first upwind, and then an amazing downwind which put me in 2nd place, which I held for the rest of the race.

The medal race saw me move into 6th overall!

Congratulations to Paige (USA) for putting together an amazing series for the win, and Krystal (AUS) for second.

I've definitely learnt a lot through this trip, and in general have been very happy with how I've been sailing. The pieces of the puzzle are falling into place, and I know what I need to work on to make my next steps forward. Most importantly I enjoyed every minute of it!

I'm now safely back in Sydney, dealing with jetlag, and trying to study for the exams I missed while I was away. A bit of time off from sailing while I get through my exams, then back into training for Worlds in Perth at the end of the year.

Cheers,
Gabe