Summer 2022: Fighting Until the End

Summer has come to a close, which means the majority of the racing season is over and the end of the year is just around the corner. It has been an incredibly productive summer filled with many learning experiences, countless hours on the water, growth outside my comfort zone, and memories that will last a lifetime. 

I began this summer in Long Beach with a US Sailing Team training camp in May. Following 10 days of boatspeed training with some data analysis and racing practice, I was on my way to Europe at the beginning of June with a busy schedule ahead. I arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, where I sailed in the Bol d’Or Mirabaud, the largest yachting race on a lake in Europe. I got to race across Lake Geneva on a 69F (a foiling monohull) with three other incredible female sailors. It was a long race (we crossed the finish line after 29 hours in obscenely light wind conditions), but an experience I will never forget working with incredible people that have become lifelong friends.

Immediately after this event I was on my way to Lake Traunsee, Austria, for the first stop of the 2022 Kite Foil World Series. Lake Traunsee is notorious for extremely light wind, which made it perfect to practice racing in marginal conditions. Only 4 races were completed over 4 days, and unfortunately my technical and racing skills in these conditions weren’t up to par with those of Julia Damasiewicz from Poland and Ellie Aldridge from Great Britain. I finished in 3rd place; it was my first time not winning an event since August 2016, capping out a streak of 32 consecutive international regatta wins over the last 6 years. But it was a great learning experience that I was excited to go through now rather than later, and it was only the beginning of a long summer of productive training and challenging racing with a lot of lessons to learn.

After Austria, most of the fleet headed straight to Lake Garda for a Formula Kite Grand Prix event the following weekend where we raced off of Campione del Garda for 3 days. This is a relatively technical racing venue which rewards using different VMG modes to get to the favored side of the course. Again, I was missing some speed, and finished second behind Lauriane Nolot, who was on fire all weekend, winning most of the races. Speed had always been one of my biggest strengths, and this event was a big wake up call that my speed was no longer the advantage it used to be simply because everyone else was catching up, and perhaps a few other reasons that I hadn’t uncovered yet.

I spent the following 2 weeks training in Garda and planning out my schedule for the rest of the year. I spent a lot of time speaking with my coaches, advisors, and mentors to help me figure out how I needed to spend my time until the 2022 World Championships in October. When you’re campaigning for the Olympics, time is the most valuable and limited commodity (which is often overlooked). Because everyone is working towards a certain deadline - the Olympics - how you choose to spend your time can make or break your campaign. And as I wasn’t entirely pleased with some of my performances and results, I knew I needed to make some changes to my schedule that would put me in a better position going into the World Championships in the fall and the Olympic trials which would begin this winter and continue through the summer of 2023. I identified some of my biggest weaknesses, and, together with my coaches, decided on a plan that I felt confident would provide ideal preparation for the Worlds and help me improve in the areas I was suffering losses, such as speed.

Following 2 very fun weeks in Garda, I traveled to Gizzeria, Italy, for the second stop of the 2022 Kite Foil World Series. This is one of my favorite venues on the international circuit with generally light but consistent wind and flat water. It is a venue that rewards speed, with notoriously long races (about 16-18 minutes compared to our usual 10-12 minute courses). It is the perfect venue to practice speed in light wind on big kite sizes. I arrived at the venue about a week before the regatta started to do some training with the German team. It was very productive training that boosted my confidence in my riding technique and handling skills. Despite this, I was still struggling with my speed in those conditions, and once we began racing, I could not match the modes of my competitors. I finished second again behind Lauriane Nolot, who was beating me on pace. I had a theory on why I was losing on speed, but would not be able to test it out until a couple months later.

The next stop was Marseille, where I spent 2 weeks training at the Olympic sailing venue during the time of year that the Games will be happening in 2024. It was really special and motivating to be there along with many other athletes across all the Olympic sailing classs. That training camp concluded with a coaches’ regatta, in which I finished second again, held back by a lack of speed in light wind conditions, again. Although it was just a coaches’ regatta for the sole purpose of practicing racing at this venue, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated about not being able to match the speed of my competitors, and slightly disappointed in not being able to deliver a better performance. 

I was tired from traveling for the last several months and was mentally exhausted from the last 8 weeks in Europe. It had been extremely productive, however I knew I needed to take some time off and reset before I started preparing for the world championships and testing my theory on why I was lacking speed.

I flew home to San Francisco and spent one week training and then racing at the US Open event held out of the St Francis Yacht Club. It was really fun to spend time at home, reconnect with my friends and support base at the yacht club and St Francis Sailing Foundation, and of course finally get some rest after the event. This was my first time taking a true break since April, so I was very excited to get my mind off of kiting and campaigning for a little bit and do something else. Anna Weis, one of my closest friends who is now campaigning in the IQ Foil class, and I drove up to Hood River, Oregon, to spend our time off winging and seeing some friends. We camped in my parents’ van for a week, winged for hours every day, and had an incredible time with our friends (who were also all living in vans, RV’s, and school buses) down by the river! Not only was it a welcomed physical break, but a much needed mental break that left me refreshed and excited to get back to training. And, of course, figure out how to get my speed back.