This is a well over due update. I’ve constantly been telling myself to update my blog but I keep finding excuses not to so now we’re here 7 months later with a biannual report I guess! It’s been one of the most packed tight 7 months of sailing and travel of my life so buckle up. Keeping things consistent I’m going back to were I left off in October where I’m just finishing up a training camp on the Gold Coast in preparation for the European Championships in Hyeres, my second trip to Hyeres in 2022 (and funnily enough I’m writing this from Hyeres mid regatta in 2023 but we’ll catch up to that at the end). I’m going to break this up into location-based chunks to keep things simple.
Fremantle
After the Gold Coast I still had a week at home training before I headed to Europe again for the European Championships. This was my last little time here for quite a while so I made the most of it. I also got to compete in my home clubs annual sailing regatta, Sail Freo where I got the win over my team mates Zac and Ethan. I always cherish being from such a great place as Western Australia and I’m lucky to call it home.
Hyeres, France
After just 6 months away I was back again in Hyeres but in an entirely different time of year. I think this was everybody’s first time in the venue in November and it certainly had a different feeling to the usual April sailing we were all used to. Most shops were closed up for the winter months as the town is very much a summer time destination only. We were very lucky to score some amazing weather however. With a drought hitting most of Europe it meant the sun was unseasonably still out and despite the days being quite a bit shorter we could still enjoy 20-degree weather each day.
Elyse and I had flown into Milan to collect the team trailer and van (along with my new boat) and then driven down to Hyeres the next day. The sailing conditions were really great in all the lead up training with nice onshore winds blowing and fun waves. Then in classic fashion the first day of the event saw a complete wind change with off shore winds and flat water for the entire regatta. I started out alright with a few good scores and a race win in qualifying to get into finals in an alright position, 14th if I remember right. Then finals started with a 3-race day and some of the most shifty and difficult conditions I’ve seen in Hyeres. We had a North West wind blowing which was a direction no one had ever seen before, including JB who is the local. Coming straight off the mountains it made for a bizarre day of racing. I lead to the top mark race one and held onto a 2nd place which was a good start but after that I couldn’t navigate to the top mark in any kind of a good position. I had an amazing come back race 2, going from 53rd at the top to 16th at the finish but couldn’t sustain that level of comeback for the final race.
On our final day of racing, it was looking like we were going to race after waiting on land and on water for many hours for wind. Then, in the dying moments before they would have to abandon the day a puff came through under a rain cloud and the race committee got the orange flag up. Half the fleet had towed in by now and they were racing back out to get to the start in time. We were the only fleet out and there was a strange feeling in the air, like we were in a stadium. I was fighting to try and get myself into a top 8 position overall to re qualify for AST and I had a good start and beat but didn’t capitalize on the left shift I knew was coming so was stuck in the late teens when a top 5 was probably needed to secure the result. I finished 11th overall after the hard-fought week then had to do the grimmest pack up I’ve ever done. It was dark when we got in and the rain had settled in. We had less than 10 degrees and were all in our sailing kit trying to put our boats on the trailer and all our luggage away. It was time to leave Hyeres for another year.
Paris
After the European Championships were over Elyse and I had planned a little 3-day trip to Paris, seeing as we were already in France and neither of us had been. We had also heard November can be a very nice time to go with minimal tourists as the summer rush was over and the Christmas holiday makers hadn’t started filling up the city yet. We caught the train up via Marseilles which was a total of about 4 ½ hours. We had a lovely time seeing as much as we could and eating out at some very nice places. The weather was cold but not too rainy and a combination of public transport, walking and Lime bikes got us all over the city. It was a perfect amount of time to run around and enjoy travel away from a boat park. When out time was up it was time to say goodbye to Elyse as she was heading back to Perth and I was off to Mexico, again!
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
This was my second time in Mexico in the same year as well but for quite different reasons to the World Championships earlier in the year. This time I was invited back to run a coaching clinic of my own and I couldn’t be more excited. I truly love Mexico and think it’s one of the best places to visit, everything from the people, the climate, the food and the culture. It’s all very interesting and different to Australia and I’ve got great friends in Collin and his family after the staying with them the last time I was in PV. I did a 50/50 split in accommodation this time with half my time at Collins ranch and half my time at Vaughn’s apartment in Bucerias which is a very chill seaside town about 30min drive from the city of PV. I had a great time looking after my sailors for the week and can’t wait to come back again. The two weeks flew by and once again it was time to get in the air, this time for a very long flight from LA to Sydney.
Sydney
No rest for the wicked, it was time to compete again only 3 weeks after the Euros were finished. I hadn’t competed in Sail Sydney in what felt like forever with Covid preventing me from doing the event for several years. This was a doozey of an event with some of the windiest sailing I’ve ever done on the harbor but we all had a good time and I managed to just pip Finn for second overall behind Wearny in the last race. That afternoon was followed by a quick pack up and a flight out of there to start getting ready for a massively busy summer and a quick Christmas break (wasn’t much of a break).
I’m going to cut off here and start fresh for the next blog instalment about the domestic season and all the craziness that was the summer of 2023. Hang tight!
Swifto