Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Preparing for the 2017 USA Team Trials

I have decided that since Team Trials is coming up really fast (6th to 13th of May), I have to get ready to do the best I can. So I have decided to practice my starts really seriously, to do some workouts, to do some extra practices to work on my boat speed, and to practice some mindfulness.

So an opportunity came up, the Harken #2 regatta at SFYC. I decided to try the hardest I could on starting first row (meaning with no one in front of me), and on the favoured side of the line. When I started for the first race, I was on the favoured side and started with a perfect start. The whole regatta went on the same way except one race, which was the one with the most wind (20+ knots steady). I sadly started second row, so I had boats in front of me. This did not bring me down, I tacked and sailed to a puff. Later on I found my self in second place, and the first place sailor tacked but the wind was so strong he almost flipped, so I was then in first. I stretched my lead on the upwind and the reach, then when I started to go downwind, my team mate started to catch up to me, and then the fleet did too. At the bottom gate I was barely ahead, the whole last upwind leg, my team mate was getting further and further away from me. At the end, I won the race. Overall at the regatta across 8 races in 2 days, I finished 5th out of 41 champion fleet sailors, which I am happy with, given that there were two members of the USA National Team and one member of the Development Team. My little 9 years old brother Yann who has recently joined the champion fleet finished every race in conditions going from 5-23 knots, which is awesome.

Workouts wise, I have been working out every single day, and plan to continue on. I have been doing some running, biking, and leg workouts. I plan on continuing so except during my Spring Break vacation, when I will be sailing to practice my boat speed.

I have also been doing some mindfulness, which helps me when I am in a tough situation, like a bad start, a bad race. Mindfulness was introduced to me by my Dad a little less than a year ago. I have been using different apps on my phone, and the one I prefer is called "Breathe". This app gives me suggestions on what kind of sessions I should do based on how I am feeling. I believe this has helped me in sailing but also in life, from dealing with a bad start to a class mate lying about my subject.


Here is a picture of the award ceremony, second in Red fleet (my age group):




Here is the overall results (congrats to my friend Henry):



Here is a picture of my teammates and I rounding the top mark (photo credit Jack Boeger):