Hoel Sailing: Topsport Vlandereen Optimist Regatta 2017 @ Nieuwpoort, Belgium

Between the June 27 and July 5, I had the chance to represent Team USA in Belgium. I qualified to represent Team USA this past November in New Orleans (if you want to know more about my qualification you can check out my past blog). My teammates and I traveled to Nieuwpoort, Belgium for the 2017 Topsport Vlandereen Regatta. In Team USA, this time we were fifteen sailors and two coaches. Most sailors were from the East Coast except two of us, a girl and I from California. The venue itself was right out of a harbour protected by two piers to bloke the waves, the Coast was pretty straight, and the their were very shallow waters.

Although we were staying there ten days, the regatta itself was five days long and we had five days of practice. All the practice days were with winds around 10 to 15 knots except one day: my favorite day, with winds around 20 knots. We had the chance to practice race with international sailors from Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, and France. During these races, I got a 5th and a 10th: this really made me decompress as I was very stressed about the other kids level. The day after that we prepared our boats for the regatta.

The first day of racing the wind was near 25 knots with waves reaching two meters high. Because of this, the Race Committee decided to cancel the day, the regatta was now only four days long. Racing with us were sailors from Europe, Australia, and a massive amount of Dutch, German, and Belgium sailors. The British also came as a National Team. The best of sailors at this event were going to Opti Worlds which was very impressive; there were 147 sailors.

The second day we went out and raced 3 races. The wind was very low and current strong. My scores were not perfect but OK for light air sailing: I got a 34th, 46th, and a 26th. I was very happy with my last race since the wind was really light. When you sail an Opti, being light and not tall is the optimal body shape, as I am coming to the end of Optis I am a somehow heavy and tall. This is sort of penalising in light air.

The third day of racing was very hard, as the current was around 5 knots and the wind around 15 knots. The hardest part was not being over the line on the start, as the current was pushing us over the line. For the first race, the current wasn't too strong: it was mostly all about keeping your boat flat and dry, as it was very windy. During the second race, half the fleet was disqualified due to the current. The last race, I got a very good first upwind putting me in 5th around the reach mark and due to an error downwind, I finished 15th. I was still very happy of my day as I got a 21st, 19th, and 13th. Thanks to this awesome day, I was qualified for Gold fleet which was an awesome moment.

The fourth day of racing, the wind was even lighter than the practice days with winds around 7 knots and strong current. I was now in Gold fleet which meant that the competition was twice as hard. So to sum up, the competition was harder and the wind was much lighter. This meant that the day was going to be hard. So the first race, I was doing fine until the fleet started going downwind and I lost a couple of boats. The second race, I made a mistake and lost a lot of boats at the finish line. The last race was just like the first one: I lost boats on the downwind. I was kind of sad that the wind wasn't heavier but I had to keep my focus for the last day of the regatta. My scores were OK but could've been better: I got a 51, 69, and 55 (out of 74).

The last day was very light with winds around 9 knots. Two races were planned but due to a postponement, we could only race once. The whole race I was in the top 40 and on the last leg, I made a mistake and finished 56th. After racing, my teammates and I got a chance to trade our Team USA gear for other teams gear. We had so much fun!

Overall this regatta has been a great experience! In just ten days, I met new friends, learned a lot on tactics, improved my boat speed, and sailed in new waters. I am very happy to finish 61st overall! Thank you Jerome, for supporting me throughout my Opti years: without you, I probably would've never came this far. Thank you to the Belvedere Cove Foundation and St. Francis Sailing Foundation for your support, thank you to RYC, Ornaith and Andy for welcoming me to sailing in San Francisco, thank you Nico and Tommy for your great coaching at SFYC: I may be too big for Optis now, but I had a blast on this boat these past 5 years and this Belgium regatta representing USA was an amazing experience.

My teammates and I: