January: Clearwater training and Lauderdale OCR

January was a big month for me given that it marked my first regatta in over 5 month. This was my first opportunity to get a true check in point on how successful my training had been over the fall / winter and to identify any weaknesses that I would need to work on leading into my first ( of three) peak events in 2015 at the Laser Midwinters East in Clearwater in Mid February. The month started at home in Vancouver where I was spending new years with family while taking a two week break from training. In early January, I headed down to Clearwater for a week long training camp. The week brought great conditions and we took the opportunity to do some racing focused training. I had some good moments, but lacked the consistency that I will need to win regattas. After the training camp in Clearwater, I headed further south to Fort Lauderdale for the Lauderdale Olympic Classes Regatta. This year, they had changed the dates for the regatta, putting it a week before the ISAF Sailing World Cup event that would be held in Miami. This meant that it attracted quite a few top sailors who were looking to do a lead up competition before the Word Cup. Throughout the regatta, I had some good moments and some less good moments culminating in a mediocre finishing in the standings ( I finished 24th of 44 competitors). Although the result was far from great, I did have some pretty significant personal victories where I successfully executed my training. Overall, this regatta served it's purpose in helping to identify my weaknesses; lacking the confidence to pull the trigger on the start line and not getting into the groove quick enough on the downwind legs. Now I'm headed back home to Vancouver where I will be for almost three weeks to catch up with school work and train in the gym. I will be heading down to Clearwater on Febuary 12th for a week of training before the Midwinters.

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Fillah