Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! I am so thankful for my windsurfing family and to all of you for making it all possible!

300 Surfing Santas!

Lots of Miles

After Spain I went home to recuperate and recover from a cold. After the week, I returned to Quebec. It was cool and got colder. The first weekend was spent just outside of Montreal at a Quebec Sailing Team training camp. Here are some pictures from the off the water component.

Running with the baby

After 10 days of cold weather and finding ice near my board I was happy to make my way down to Florida. 

We trained in Clearwater for a week, supporting the youth contingency of the team at the RS:X Youth Worlds. The current is really strong upwind so we did a lot of sailing down wind, an unusual opportunity. 

Blindfolded Sailing!

Then we were back to the 'home base' in Cocoa Beach to prepare to the Kona World Championships, but there wasn't any wind so I learned to surf! Surfing is awesome cross training; learning about waves and a great back workout.

Then we were in Islamorada in the Keys at the Kona World Championships.

Kona is a one design long board where no pumping is allowed and sail sizes are determined by weight. Everyone is on the same starting line, providing a unique opportunity to work on tactics. The boards are slower and maneuver like a dinghy, making the class highly tactical. My starts improved dramatically and I learned a lot. I did really well! 3rd amongst women and 11th overall! 

My coach in 2nd amongst women, myself, and team mate 5th overall
A great showing from the Quebec International Team!

The regatta became a family battle between a Swedish family and mine. Unfortunately, my mom was injured and couldn't compete, but my dad was 3rd overall and my brother won the World Championships!

Pumped after we got 1st and 2nd!
Andrea Holm is super fast and was one of my training partners last winter!

Then a crazy thing happened! My training plans suddenly lead me to Maui. My coach was going on vacation to Maui and found an inexpensive set up. I have barely done any wave sailing and have been long intimidated by the idea of waves. I was getting better the previous week in the waves, so Maui waves didn't feel completely out of the realm for me. I felt it was a rare opportunity to go and face the waves with my coach and having no pressure. It was an opportunity to learn from her and be surrounded by people who were at my level or slightly above to give me support in navigating the waves. I went quickly on an 'off-the-books' training trip to Maui. In the end it wasn't such a crazy idea; I learned tons and there were several other top RS:X sailors on the island!

The first week we had no wind so we surfed a bunch, giving me knowledge and confidence in the waves. It translated very well when sailing the following the week. 

The first week we surfed for hours daily and did some tourist activities when our noses were full of salt water.

always having fun and training!

Sunrise hike on the crater!

tourist trip to see the unusual sighting of Jaws 

Lots of gear, great rental package from Kanaha Kai Surf rentals

An amazing day of wave sailing!

I am so grateful for the trip! I have learned so much about the ocean and have gained so much confidence. It was an invaluable experience. I am so proud of my first day in the waves. Everyone was shocked I was out there because it was considered a big day at Kanaha!

I am back at the 'home base' and will be here for most of the next two months, training for the World Cup Miami, a critical event for all of us. It is looking like great wave sailing conditions tomorrow, can't wait!

Wind and waves in Cocoa Beach!

THE World Championships

I was just in Santander, Spain for three weeks training and competing in the 2014 ISAF Combined World Championships. This event happens every 4 years, bringing together all of the world’s best sailors in each or the 10 Olympic sailing classes. It was a great experience; I learned a ton about starts, sailing stances, and about myself as an athlete. The racing was incredible and will inspire my upcoming year of training. I am pleased with my results, as they are the starting point for my first year of full-time training.

When we first arrived the wind was strong out of the Atlantic creating some fantastic swell. It was so much fun to be flying down wind in the waves. I had a tough time keeping the giant board in the water upwind over the swell, but all of my hard work this summer working on my jibes gave me confidence going down wind and I had so much fun!

The World Championships started in very light wind. We were lucky; the women’s course area for the beginning of the event had a thermal wind, so we stayed mostly on schedule. My coach and I concentrated on the process of a good start. It has been really hard to improve starts because there is only one event a year in North America where there are more than 15 boards on the line and here there were 31!

My best race was when it was planing conditions and this has not been my strong suit, so that was exciting. I was able to beat Farrah Hall, US representative to the 2012 Olympics! It was windy and the race committee put a slalom section at the end of the course. She was right behind me going into the slalom and I was able to keep my cool and make all of my jibes, keeping her behind me! I am so thankful to Alejandro Monllor, who also teaches windsurfing at the VH Yacht Club, for helping me with my jibes. These past weeks are proof that my training has paid off. My focus for the summer was board control and jibes and I was able to pull them off in high stress situations!

I learned a ton and now my coach knows where the focus of our training will be the next few months. I learned a lot about her coaching style at a competition and I have learned to trust in her style. It is the first time I have had a full time coach, so I am not used to having someone thinking on my behalf in a long-term plan. It is wonderful to have a friend and coach to rely on.

For more information on the event check out www.santander2014.com. The latest International Sailing Federation rankings were recently posted, putting me at 56^th out of 146! Thank you so much for your support! There is a long road ahead and I am so thankful you are on my team. Progress is being made and I am confident in the plan. I am in Canada for training right now and we go to Florida for the winter training bloc soon. My next event will be the Kona World Championships, starting on Halloween.

The Big Update!

The first weekend was the Olympic Classes Regatta at CORK in Kingston, Ontario. Unfortunately I sprained my wrist at some point on the first day. The second day I did the first race, which was in light wind and involved a lot of pumping! My forearm became very inflamed so I finished the regatta from the coach boat with an icepack. I was able to see the race from my coach's perspective and learn how to avoid the mistakes that drive her crazy!

The International RS:X fleet; from Egypt to Canada!

We had a few days of training back in Troi Rivieres, Quebec. Which I had recovered enough for. Saturday we had a long distance race from the club to the city center, 20 km! It took me 3 hrs and 20 minutes. I was happy with my endurance and ability to remain focused.

We sailed from West of Point-du-Lac near the "40" to the island NorthEast of the main city of Troi Tivieres

pumping into the finnish

A week later we flew to Madrid and buzzed through the desert to Santander.

This place is one of the most beautiful spots I've ever been to! We arrived to tons of wind and huge swell, sometimes you could only see the tops of the sails behind the waves! It was a short boarder's dream! I was really wishing I was at a slalom race, carving down the waves instead of getting blown off the wave crests. It was gorgeous!

The Harbor in Santander, Spain

The light house next to our bungalow, with a fantastic view!

The Most Incredible View

Where I do my warm up swim! 

The View From the tent with 170 windsurfers

Our Castle in the Sand

The City is so Excited for the Combined World Championships

staging area for the opening ceremonies
Each country had a 10 yr old local carry the sign and lead the country in

Marching In!

It was a big show, complete with planes drawing the Spanish flag across the sky!

It was incredible walking into the center of the Opening Ceremonies. The President of ISAF (the International Sailing Federation) speculated it was the biggest turnout of speculators for a sailing event ever! On stage he estimated 20,000 people, but estimates were published as high as 40,000. To put this into perspective I looked up how many people live on the Vineyard year round and it is 15,000 people; crazy! The speeches were translated on the screens and wove in and out of Spanish and English so that they could be enjoyed by everyone!

A beautiful place to sail!

Light wind racing!

I had fish and my coach had churros!

We didn't race yesterday do to no wind and we have a rest day today, so my coach and I went out to celebrate her birthday with a Spanish style dinner! This was the midnight snack! Happy Birthday to my wonderful coach!

I will do a regatta recap when I return home in a week!

Quick Update

So sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, so much has happened! The internet is in and out so here is a quick post for now.
I am heading into the final training block before racing starts on the 13th!

The RS:X tent under some pretty cool castles!

Thank you so much for all your support in getting me here!

We have raised so much money; only $650 left to  the $5,000 goal on RallyMe!

Please help me reach the goal by making a donation at www.rallyme.com/rallies/863/solvigsayre

First Day on the Job

Today was my first day on the job, and boy am I exhausted! We had 4 long races here in Kingston, Ontario. It was wavy and the wind was very up and down, making it very difficult to get the gear dialed in. It will be an early bedtime for me!

My fundraiser on Monday was very successful! With less than a week since the launch party we have raised $3,270! 65% of the goal! Please help me compete in Spain at the World Championships by contributing to my Rally at https://www.rallyme.com/rallies/863/solvigsayre.

Monday!

On Monday is my launch party for my Rally on RallyMe!
Please contribute to my Rally by clicking here!

This Rally is to fund my trip to Spain for the World Championships in September. This event is the first chance countries have to qualify for the Olympics. Only 28 countries get to be represented in the women's windsurfing class, and only one woman from each country goes!

Summer Living

Duck Gybes at Katama

It has been so windy this summer AND when I am off of work! I have been able to go short boarding several times a week, as was my goal. Short boarding is a type of windsurfing which requires a lot of wind and teaches a lot about board handling, especially through learning some freestyle moves. I have been able to work on my duck gybes and I am starting to work on my lay-down gybes.

Wind at Sengekontacket Pond

 Besides working and windsurfing I have also been working on improving this website and working on my fundraising campaign. There are a lot of aspects to being an Olympic athlete, beyond training! I am so fortunate to have family members that have experience in fundraising for various projects, helping me become better at this part of 'the job'.
One cool new part of this website is the 'Community Corner,' where I am sharing inspiring stories from the various communities I am proud to be a part of. If you know of a story I have not included, please let me know!

Chasing the Wind to Cape Pogue