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

Happy Summer!

Summer is going by so fast!

A month ago I raced my final event for the Eckerd College Women's Sailing Team at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. We lost the tie breaker for tenth, and finished in eleventh place at the National Championships. We sailed very well and I learned a ton! We also held onto "the bubble"for most of the regatta. "The bubble" refers to a cluster of team that are very close in score and therefore it is very easy to jump several places after a single race.

Read more about our National Championships at
http://eckerdtritons.com/news/2014/5/30/WSAIL_0530140559.aspx

After a few days at home I continued my drive up to Quebec for a training camp with the Quebec Team. The camp started with a little regatta that really pushed us. There were five long races with the wind shifty and light. There were younger kids racing too, it was a great way to start to join the Quebec sailing community.

We had an awesome week with all sorts of conditions. On our rest day we went stand up paddle boarding down one of the rivers. The current was really strong at first, below the dam, making it easy to keep going. We were going so fast we had to keep our eyes really open to enjoy the scenery. After two hours of paddling we made it to a local stand up paddle boarding spot. We all slept very well that night.

This year's first week of windsurfing classes just finished and it was a success! There are now several more windsurfers out there on the water having so much fun. One of my students will probably be able to go out alone and windsurf in a few weeks! 

I have been out sailing a bunch, including the day that the restored whaling ship, the Charles W. Morgan, left Vineyard Haven. It was an incredible day! 

photo credit Albert O. Fischer/ The Vineyard Gazette

Check out this great article about me in The Vineyard Gazette http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/06/26/wind-her-back-islander-sets-her-sights-olympics?k=vg5245e67ebc21d

The Next Chapter

I just graduated with Phi Beta Kappa and honors from Eckerd College and sent in the first installment of my team membership to Quebeq Voile! I am so excited to be joining their team as a full time international training partner. I will be training with them full time this year and continue my studies independently in Arabic. I am also going to be taking advantage of the French immersion the team has to offer and begin studying French.

This week I am on campus training and practicing for the Intercollegiate Sailing Association Women's National Championships. Semi finals start the following Tuesday at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. I will drive home for a few days before driving up to Canada for a training camp. This summer I will be working at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club, working on the windsurfing program and training. Cross Training will be the name of the game, so come short boarding with me and teach me your moves!