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