Racing on Lake Garda

Last week I was racing on Lake Garda in the little town of Torbole, Italy. The wind blows through the mountains almost every day. It is a stunning place with great racing conditions. The Garda Olympic week is part of the EuropCup circuit.

Torbole is on the north end of Lake Garda.

On the first day there were three races. My first race was good but my widget had broken. While I was trying to replace it in between the races I had broke a batten clip so I had to change sails, causing me to miss the second race. My technique in the planing conditions is constantly improving and I was able pass people through lulls and gusts based on speed.

My starts have improved so much!

On the line and going at the gun!

There were three races again on day two. The first race went well, but unfortunately the other two races I made a lot of mistakes. I worked hard, but I made poor decisions in the shifty and gusty conditions of the final two races today. There was no wind on the third day.

I'm USA 39

The next day they scheduled racing to start at 8 am, so I had a 5:45 wake up call! The first race I was in first! but it was abandoned due to the crazy long course set for the conditions. The next race I worked hard to recover from a major mistake off of the starting line and made up some points. The final race went well, I finished third and in front of all of the French girls!!!!!

 The fourth day didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but in the last race I fought and pumped really hard and passed 3 girls in the down wind and 1 in the slalom, catching up to the front of the fleet!!!

The final day was the medal race, which means it is a race for the top ten, counts for double points, and the score cannot be discarded.  The water temperature seemed to have dropped, everyone was having problems with their feet being cold and struggling to get them in the foot straps. My race was going well, but it was very tricky. I made a few mistakes which put me back a little in the fleet. Finally at the final top mark I was moving up to the top half. I stumbled on me numb feet and fell in the jibe. I quickly got up and was catching up to the two girls who had passed me. I was gaining on them, but my frozen feet were to stiff to allow me to press and message the board onto a plane before them. 

It was a disappointment, but I feel that I showed that I am heading in the right direction. Falling is slow, but I am getting faster! I will be working on finding the solution to the mental block that keeps preventing me from staying on the board. It was a fantastic regatta, I hope to do it again!