Welcome to 2022!
I started the year off with the usual block of training in Mexico. Spending time in Los Barriles and La Ventana not only provides for incredible training conditions, but they are also places very close to my heart where much of my “village” is also based in the winter. Returning to Baja every winter allows me to reconnect with those people and my love for the sport, in addition to of course getting lots of hours on the Sea of Cortez.
My final semester of college also started in January with a couple weeks of online classes, and then moved to in person at the end of the month. After almost 2 months in Baja, it was great to return to Hawaii. It was also been great to be back to in person classes after 2 years and feel like I was actually in college again. In addition to classes, I also got to spend lots of time in the water doing a different type of foiling every day, from surf foiling to kiting to winging to tow foiling - all these other foiling disciplines have certainly had a positive impact on my kiting skills. It was really special to get to share all these sessions with a group of close friends as well.
In mid February I was able to take a week off school to go back to La Ventana to train with many of the European riders that chose to spend part of their winter there as well. The rest of the US kite squad was there too, along with our coach Charlie McKee. It was an extremely valuable week of training that allowed me to see how I progressed against some of my competitors and where my weaknesses lie. Unfortunately I got food poisoning towards the end of my trip and was unable to get on the water the last few days, however I was extremely satisfied with some of my progress and takeaways from the training.
I returned to school in Hawaii at the beginning of March with a busy schedule ahead. I spent about one week there before leaving for spring break, which I used to do a one-on-one training camp with Willie McBride in Santa Barbara. This would be my last bit of proper training before the first major event of the year - the Trofeo Sofia Regatta in April (which I will talk about in depth in another post). Working with Willie is always incredibly productive and I walked away from that week feeling very confident in my big-picture approach towards my campaign and training, and also satisfied with some of our data-based conclusions about certain riding techniques.
After Santa Barbara I went back home to San Francisco for the SailGP season 2 final. It was a very busy week with a lot going on, and although I did not get any sailing time on the F50, I was happy to come help out the team whenever I could. I got the opportunity to commentate in the race village during the weekend which was a really fun experience.
During this week I was also awarded the 2021 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year award. Sitting alongside Nicole Breault and Anna Weis for the awards dinner was a true honor - what a pleasure it is to be surrounded by such an incredible group of strong women. I was truly speechless when I received the award, it was a very emotional moment for me that I did not expect - I mean, who expects to be awarded not just one, not two, but THREE Rolexes? It was really special to experience that moment at the St Francis Yacht Club as well, my home club with my village and my community. And of course my mom got the watch.
We finished the week with an awesome SailGP celebration on Sunday night. Monday morning I packed my board bags for Palma, but it wasn’t quite time to head to Europe yet as I had to go back to Hawaii to take some midterm exams for school. I flew to Hawaii Monday night to spend 48 hours on Oahu - I took my midterm exams, flew home to San Francisco Wednesday night, landed Thursday morning, reorganized at home for a few hours, and then flew out for Palma on Thursday afternoon. While in Hawaii I also got a really bad cold and was still fighting it when I landed in Palma on Friday. We weren’t racing until Tuesday so I spent those days relaxing and recovering. I got on the water for the first time for racing on Tuesday, and the regatta went off to a rough start, which, again, I will talk about more in depth in another post.
Overall the year is off to an incredible start and I am extremely excited for the summer ahead!