Oman

Arrived in Oman this morning, and have been trying to stay awake in order to adjust to the 9 hr time change. I have been mostly successful. Tomorrow I can pick up my charter boat and go sailing. A number of sailors are already here and were out practicing today. From talking to a few of them I have learned that the last few days have been a light sea breeze that builds from the NE around noon. It is pretty warm, about 80 degrees with warm water and very sunny.  The event is being hosted at a resort and it was great to use the pool and swim laps this afternoon.

One Week to go!

Only one week till I leave for Oman. According to Fran Seidenberg, they have the best dates she has ever tasted. Looking forward to tough competition!

Gearing up for the Worlds in November

The Worlds are coming up soon! They will be held in Muscat, Oman from November 20-26. I'm currently doing as much sailing and fitness as I can while working almost full time at Brewer Wickford Cove Marina. 3rd beach has been great, serving up a variety of conditions, and I have also been fortunate to practice with Lindsay Baab and the Brown Sailing Team once a week. My two main focuses for the next month and a half are fitness, and starting skills. The weather is still warm here in Rhode Island, and this month will be full of good sailing as we move into Fall.

Miami

It's great to finally be here in Miami with warm weather. I have had a good week of training with a group of Canadians, Germans, and Americans, and two days at Lauderdale with classic Lauderdale ocean conditions. This next week consists of probably light air training in Miami for two days, then two days in Lauderdale leading up to the Lauderdale OCR. It will be a well attended 3 day event. Can't wait! I am feeling strong, biking, going to the gym, and sailing. The warm weather and density of good sailors is great for focusing 100% on improving and being on my game for the Miami World Cup! This was the trip down from Rhode Island:

Finished 14th at Melbourne World Cup - moved up in world ranking

A 14th place finish is enough to move me up in the World rankings to 26th!

I was psyched to watch Ali Young from GBR win the regatta in Melbourne with a big margin.

Regatta end - Melbourne

So my regatta ended in an anticlimactic way. No racing on the last day - so I stay in my finish position of 14th place. Despite all the shoulda' coulda' woula's  about how I could have saved points here and there to finish higher,  I am pleased with improvements to a couple key parts of my game: namely starting. My awareness of the fleet positioning upwind is also improving. My upwind speed in flat water and chop was good, but now I know that I really need to work on technique upwind in big waves, and as always I need more work on downwind speed. I am also going to do more research on how to identify a persistent shift, so that I can be more confident deciding whether to take sterns to get to a side or be patient knowing that the wind will oscillate.

All in all a great experience. The Laser Standard Medal race is about to start, and the Radial Medal race is after that. A great crowd up here on the race deck overlooking the stadium course. Wind is about 8 knots out of the south with some clouds.

Melbourne day 5 medal races

Everyone is out to watch the '9er medal races. So cool.