USODA National championship - Houston Yacht Club - July 2016

On July 28-31, I attended the USODA National championship in Houston. This regatta was a little special because on the sailing side the conditions were far from good. The wind was missing and the heat was here. Therefore, in 4 days of racing the race committee held only 4 races, as opposed to the 15 initially scheduled. It was really hard mentally (a big thank you to my GodMother, Caroline for helping me with the mental preparation). Since there were only 4 races, a single mistake could make you lose the regatta.  You had to be extremely concentrated on the event, and could not afford to have fun with your teammates in between the races.

The conditions were tricky: because of the storms the wind shifted a lot and died, then got back up. During the competition my results were ok, with one good race. The regatta was going well until the third day, at that point I was 100th which I couldn't complain about. Until the point where my Dad and I started leaving to the hotel, we went and checked the protest board (if you have have a protest you have to go in a room and debate with judges). My Dad got a call saying that within ten minutes I was supposed to be in the protest room.
After the protest, I got disqualified at my best race.
My Dad and I went back to the Hotel very sad. My Dad did the maths and from 100, I ended up 162 (out of 243). There were 141 qualifying spots, plus 13 international sailors, and two or three age out.
I told my Dad that if following day, one race was held I could still qualify with the throw-out (after five or six races your worst race goes away).
If this was a normal event I would of not been worried, but since in three days the race committee only got four races in, I was scared. It turns up that on the fourth day no races were held.  I was really sad and disappointed but I got a great lesson of sailing and life: there is no done deal.

I left Houston more determined than ever to work and prepare for my next regatta and get my qualification.