My goal is to win the 2016 Olympic Trials so that I can represent the USA at the 2016 Olympics.
I am up against the best in the country and the world. There are 4 women from the USA vying for one spot at the Olympics. Myself, Haddon Hughes, Erika Reineke, and Paige Railey. The sailor who has the best combined results from the 2016 Miami World Cup Regatta and the 2016 Radial Europeans gets to go compete in Rio De Janairo. With a tiny budget, I am the underdog, yet I have a shot. It is important to me to try my hardest and compete to the best of my ability. I am competetive in the true sense of the word - I love competition because it pushes us to try harder and brings out what we do not know we are capable of.
Sport: Sailing
Class: Laser Radial
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 152 lb
Goal: Represent the USA at the Rio 2016 Olympics in Women’s Singlehanded Sailing
Why: Because an Olympic campaign is the toughest challenge
What do you love about sailing Lasers:
- The challenge of racing
- The intensity of sailing in extreme wind and waves
- The athleticism - you are part of the boat, the way you move and your physical strength translate directly to speed
- There is always more to learn
- Trying to master the mental game
Other Boats Sailed:
- 49er FX
- Aussie 18' Skiff
- C-Scow
- Lightning
- Moore 24
- Vanguard 15
- J-24
- Antrim 27
- Melges 32
- Lacrosse
- Whitewater Kayaking
- Rock Climbing
- Skiing, Windsurfing
- Swimming
- Basketball
- Field Hockey
Home: Middletown, Rhode Island
Born: San Francisco, CA
Has lived in the following states:
- California
- Ohio
- New Hampshire
- Oregon (in a windsurfing van)
- Vermont
- Washington
- Rhode Island
Post College: The Landing School of Boatbuilding and Design, Arundel, ME
Past Occupations:
- Rigger
- Sailmaker
- Aluminum Boatbuilder
- High School Ski Racing Coach
- Backpacking Guide
- High School Lacrosse Coach
- Carpenter
- Finish Worker at High Tech Modeling Shop
- Sailing Instructor
- Member 2014 US Sailing Development Team - Laser Radial
- Member 2013 US Sailing Development Team - 49er FX
- 2011 US Sailing Singlehanded Champion
- Competed in the 2013 J.J. Giltinan Aussie 18’ Skiff World Championship
- 3rd US Woman - 2014 Laser Radial World Championships
- 1st US Woman - 2014 CORK Olympic Classes Regatta
- 2nd US Woman - 2014 US Nationals
- 3rd US Woman - 2014 North Americans
- 2nd US Woman - 2014 Midwinters East
- 3rd US Woman - 2014 Miami World Cup Regatta
- 4th US Woman - 2013 Miami World Cup Regatta
- 4th US Woman - 2012 Miami World Cup Regatta
- 3rd US Woman - 2012 Midwinters East
- 4th US Woman - 2012 Laser Radial World Championships
- 1st US Woman - 2012 Midwinters West
- 2011 US Sailing Singlehanded Champion
Christine gives back to sailing by encouraging sailors of all ages. She is a great motivator, and passes on what she has learned by offering tips to sailors at regattas, sharing techniques in practice sessions, hosting clinics, and coaching youth sailors. She sets an example of good sportsmanship, always trying her hardest in competition and expecting the same from her opponents, and congratulating them when they sail well.
If you really want to know the details of my Laser Background, here it is:
I first sailed a Laser when I was 16 on spring break in a clinic hosted by John Kolius. I learned what 'by the lee' meant and that you were actually supposed to sail that way in a Laser. My parents bought two Lasers for me and my siblings, one red and one blue. That was 1997 or 98. I took the blue boat to weekday racing at Lakewood Yacht Club in Jamestown, NY. Erik Nickeson took me to a couple regattas on Little Sodus Bay and Sodus Bay, NY that same summer. I remember meeting Ben Richardson, who won the regatta. He had all spectra control lines. That was new.
I went to college in Colorado. My second year I brought my Laser with me and took my friends sailing on 11 Mile Canyon Reservoir. We froze with no wetsuits, but it was windy and fun anyway. Junior year I entered a weekend regatta on Cherry Creek Reservoir in the middle of Denver. It was 5 knots most of the time from all directions until the end of the second day when it blew 20 knots for about an hour. After college, I carried the blue laser on the roof to wherever I was living at the time and joined in local races.
When I settled in Vermont for a while, working at a sail loft, I started to learn more about racing strategy and kinetics. I began to travel to all the little regattas in New England. I learned about frostbiting in Newport, RI, and sometimes drove 5 hours from Vermont to sail with the famous fleet 413 on sunday afternoons. I started searching for more regattas to enter.
In 2010, the North Americans were being held at Buffalo Canoe Club, so I entered that regatta - it was only 8 hours away from Burlington. I met Dick Tillman who cheered me on in the Standard Rig silver fleet. He sold me his book, which had an entry in the back by Paige Railey about sailing the Laser Radial. She said the ideal weight for a Radial was 155 lbs. I weigh 155 lbs. I had thought I was too big for a Radial.
I went to CORK that summer and sailed a Radial. I was learning more and getting better against the home fleet in Malletts Bay, but sailing big courses in big fleets was totally new. I spent a lot of time not knowing where the windward mark was.
It might have been that fall that I sailed the Fat Boys Regatta in Bristol, RI and got exposed to windy sailing. I had always loved hiking, and the excitement of a windy day, but I was a lake sailor. Kathleen Tocke sailed a radial, and was really good. I watched her ahead of me, she was moving her body around and sheeting in and out. I was thinking 'how does she know when to move which way, and when to sheet in and out?' I spent so much time capsizing on the way in to the dock at that regatta that the RC sent me to a beach since they didn't think I would make it through the mooring field. I wasn't the only one. We teamed up to carry our boats up to some grass and then hitched rides back to the club to get our cars. My now boyfriend Peter Shope helped me go back to pick up my boat off the grass and load it onto the car.
Some life changes sparked wanderlust and I packed up and headed West from Vermont to San Francisco. I brought the same old blue boat with me, which by this time was leaking badly. It got to the point where I would use my winter hat as a sponge to bail it out in between races. San Francisco taught me what windy was. I got introduced to the Masters sailors who were practicing for the worlds, and they shared their wisdom about racing and about San Francisco with me. Chris Boome taught me how to sail fast upwind in a Radial. I learned how to hike. I learned how to torque, I learned how to vang sheet. I learned how to stop freaking out about how windy it is and looks around and pay attention to shifts and current and boats. I learned about current. San Fran has complicated current. Eventually I saved up and bought a new used boat in 2011.
I was addicted to Laser Racing. I sailed at St Francis every chance I had. I filled up my Calendar with regattas. Every one I could get to. I sailed in Long Beach, and I went to the Gorge. I sailed so much I became fast. I started winning regattas! So I went to Miami - I applied for grants, rented out my apartment, took time off work and drove to Miami to sail in the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta - the hardest Laser event in the country. That was amazing. I had no expectations, made a lot of mistakes but had a few moments of brilliance. A few regattas later I surprisingly qualified for the 2012 Worlds. I applied for grants, raised money online, and went to Germany. Again I had no expectations, made a lot of mistakes, and had some promising moments. It turned out that I had incredible speed when it was windy - but a lot to learn about racing.
After a race day on the city front in San Fran, Kristen Lane came up to me and asked if I would like to sail a 49er FX (a skiff, and a new Olympic class) with her and try to go to the Olympics. I don't think it had occurred to me that I could go to the Olympics. I said yes, and we sailed together for a year. We competed in France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, and France again, against gold medalists and world champions who were also trying out this new boat. I learned about crewing and communication.
That same year, 2013, I learned how to sail an Aussie '18 Skiff and teamed up with two other women from San Francisco and travelled to Syndey, Australia to compete in the JJ's (the Aussie 18 worlds). Katie Love, CC Childers, and I were the first ever, and one of two women's teams to compete in the JJ's.
As much as I loved the speed of the skiffs, I am truly a solo sailor. I got back into the Laser for the 2014 Miami World Cup Regatta (they changed the name). I raced the old family red boat since my "new" 2011 boat was falling apart. I finished 12th, and was excited to have some great races dueling it out with past World Champions. This refueled my passion for Laser sailing. I qualified for the Worlds again and went to the regatta this fall with high expectations. I didn't meet them at all and learned about some major holes in my sailing game. Now I am planning my training to get rid of my weaknesses and make them into strengths. I am learning how to stay focused, and I am building my own path in order to achieve my goal.
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