A Year for the Books: Looking Back on 2021
I started 2021 down in Baja, Mexico, enjoying a super windy season with my wing gear. As school was still online, I planned out lots of training at different venues for the first few months of the year. In mid January, I went to Florida to train with the US Kite Squad. With Charlie McKee as our coach, it was my first exposure to how a squad works and what it’s like to train with a big group on a regular basis.
In February, I turned 20! And competed in the US Open Sailing Series event in Clearwater. From there, my mom and I drove across the country from Florida to San Diego, and then from San Diego down to La Ventana, Mexico, where I spent almost 2 months training in a variety of conditions. La Ventana is one of my favorite places to train, and I really enjoy going back there every winter to take advantage of the amazing conditions (and eat the delicious food). The rest of the US Squad came down at the beginning of March, and we spent a lot of time testing different equipment, tuning kites, and doing many laps from Playa Central to the Hot Springs.
We drove back up to the states at the beginning of April, where I spent a few days in Long Beach training and planning out my schedule for the next few months. I had just found out that I would be joining the USA SailGP team and was eagerly studying videos and data about the F50 foiling catamaran. My experience in Bermuda was incredible. There is so much to learn and it opened up a whole new world of sailing knowledge and foiling experience.
From Bermuda I flew to Europe where I spent the end of April through early June training and racing. I started off training in Hyeres, competed in Spain in May (while doing my final exams for school), returned to Hyeres for more training, and finished off with SailGP in Taranto, Italy. It was a long two months away, and I was happy to return home to San Francisco for the rest of June. I spent the time training at my local spots and learning to sail a WASZP. I also had taken a whole summer semester of classes, and finished those at the end of the month, just in time for my next big event.
In July, I traveled to Italy to compete at one of my favorite racing venues in the world: Gizzeria. It was the first stop of the Kite Foil World Series, where I got to race in a mixed fleet and improved so many skills. From there, I went straight to the UK for the SailGP event in Plymouth, and following that I went back to France for a solid 2 weeks of training.
August came around quick, and the fall schedule was packed. Back home in San Francisco, I spent the first couple weeks of August training in the bay with the squad. Immediately after, I flew straight to Denmark for the Aarhus SailGP event. The highlight was definitely going 52.3 knots on a training day leading up to the weekend racing. From Aarhus, I went to France to prepare for the European Championships, where I finished 1st, and confidently continued my preparation for the World Championships which were the following month.
After the Europeans, the US Kite Squad and I spent the remainder of September training in Long Beach to prepare for the 2021 World Championships. At the beginning of October I flew to Sardinia for the world championships which were in Torregrande. I felt extremely confident going into the event due to all my preparation and training, and was excited to get racing. The event wasn’t without its challenges, and I was beyond proud to win my 5th consecutive world title, represent the US and my support team that helped me from near and far throughout my entire career.
After the world championships, I spent some much needed chill time in Cagliari, Lake Garda, and a whole month in Hawaii getting some more of the college experience. It was refreshing to step away from the kite racing world and refuel with some surfing, winging, and sailing.
In December, I headed down to Baja to get back to business in one of my favorite places in the world. It has been an incredibly productive month so far with many hours on the water. The consistent breeze of this place makes it an ideal winter training ground.
What’s next? I will be going back to in person classes at the Univeristy of Hawaii, and am on track to graduate this coming spring, a whole year early. It will be a tricky balance these next few months, but it will be the last push to get my business degree in May. Once I’m done with school, I will be able to commit to my kite campaign full time, and also expand my skills by putting more time into SailGP and other high performance sailing. It is a very exciting road ahead, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. I am so thankful to be on this journey and for your support along the way. Make sure to subscribe to the blog so you stay up to date on the latest in the life of Daniela ;)
Cheers and happy new year!