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!