Next interesting experience was the regatta we participated in. It was a national level regatta that we participated in (we only participated for two of the days). This was very interesting since it was the first regatta that I had participated in on the laser. I had participated three regattas before this, however it was on the byte.

However, before I talk about the regatta, I feel like that I need to mention that missing school for non-academic reasons (I have been known to miss school to study for exams before), tends to be really hard for me. While recognise that this is a good use of my time, another part of me feels that I am being unproductive and I should be doing something that will boost my grades rather than let it fall. It also didn’t help that it was close to the mock exams and that my IOC would be a couple of days afterwards. So while most people feel like 2 days isn’t a big commitment, taking a break from academic work is really draining and stressful so it did feel like a big commitment going in but it did feel worth it to some extent.

Compared to previous regattas I had noticed some points which I had improved in.

  1.  I no longer start really far behind the start line : I used to start really far behind the start of the line because I was scared that I would either cross the line too early or crash into one of the other boats that crowd near the line. This time around I start on time, but still a little behind since I am still worried about getting a UFD. BUT I no longer hide from the other boats, now I am amongst the majority of the boats trying to get a good start.
  2. I don’t allow other boats to push me around : While sailing there are some rules that must be followed. These rules pertain to who gets right of way, normally I would give EVERYONE right of way, even if I had right of way. I was just too scared to tell people to move and stand my ground. This time around, I made sure that no one got in my way. If I had right of way, I yelled at them to get out of the way (that is how you are supposed to do it since the other boat may not notice you and you have to yell to get their attention).

I think that with this race, I had improved my confidence and got a little less intimidated by the other boats around me. Since my natural state is to try and hide away and simply not exist, it takes a lot of emotional energy to make my presence known by actually being competitive.  I am also not a competitive person by nature, so it tends to be a struggle for me to make myself be more aggressive at the start line and during the race.

One thing I am really proud of is the last race… In the last race of the second day, the weather had gotten really stormy and it was hard to manage. I tend to be really good at heavy wind, but the problem that I have had for a really long time is that it is hard for me to stabilise my boat while going down wind. So I’ll manage just fine while going upwind, but the moment I go downwind, everything is just chaos.

So basically I capsized 4 times, ALL ON DOWN WIND. During my last capsize, our coach came up to me and asked me if I wanted to retire, and I told him that I would be fine, and just carried on with the race (mind you after that there were no downwind legs and I didn’t capsize at all!) After the race, I found out that three of sailors retired during this race and I was really proud of myself for not being one of them. I am proud that I finished the race, even though I finished last. But with this I found that I have a big problem that must be fixed… I HAVE TO LEARN TO NOT CAPSIZE DURING DOWNWIND LEGS. So with one strength (stamina and determination), I have also found a weakness.

So I guess this was an interesting experience and I genuinely proud and happy with my improvements since my races.

also here is a picture of me (honestly I am barely recognisable) on the boat in between races