WCC - A great regatta in Alamitos Bay Yacht Club: I am TT qualified !

After Nationals, I practiced two days for another regatta: the West Coast Championship, this time in Long Beach, CA.
When my Dad and I talked about my goals for this regatta, we agreed that I was not going there for qualification, but for practice and preparation for the next event.
Obviously, I still wanted to qualify, but I knew the wind conditions might not be favorable and there was a bunch of amazing sailors. I knew that I had to be in top 18 to qualify.

The conditions were just perfect, 7-15 knots, with small waves, and a little current, the air was warm and the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club awesome.

The first day of racing was great for me because I only got good races, with one great race. I was really happy because at the end of the day I was 15th: I knew I could mess up one race and it would still be good.
I started the second day of racing feeling good and thinking that I could actually qualify. When the first race wraps up, I finish near 25th, same for the the second race and the last one around 22nd.
The race committee decides to launch a final race. I'm 19th, even if I don't know my ranking, I know that given my results, I probably lost my qualification.
On the start of the last race, I decide to go for it, and give it all. I know that I have only 2 options: either a really good finish or I am not qualified. Wind picks up to 15 knots which is perfect for me.
I decide to follow my coach, Nico, recommendations and have a perfect start. I was actually very close to the best sailors.  At the top mark, I'm 6th, followed closely by three boats. I manage to finish 8th which put me in 17th overall (out of 56). At the end of that race, I knew I had done it.

When I came in, everybody was happy about my qualification. I feel grateful to have such an amazing support from my Coach, my sponsor Scality, my team, the RYC (where I started sailing) and SFYC, and my parents & family.
I am particularly thankful to Jerome Lecat, CEO of Scality, for his continuous support and confidence. I am proud that I reached the goal we had set with Jerome: being qualified for the Team Trials (Team Trials selection regatta qualifies sailors for both Optimist International Championships and for the US National team).
I am ready now to work hard and improve my sailing even further !

This was an awesome week-end for the whole family, as my Mom learned to sail her RS Aero and my brother, Yann won a race in green fleet.

Here are some pictures: