This is a story of dedication and family commitment

Below is a report he submitted as a member of the Westernport Sailing Club’

Over last weekend I attended the Victorian laser states at Somers YC.

I got off to a slow start at the beginning of the regatta after making a few mistakes on the first upwinds of each race and as a result I had to play the catch-up game in order to get back to the front of the fleet. The winds were light to moderate a strong tide effect at the top mark resulting in pile ups.

I began Sunday with a good race placing 3rd, the conditions were similarly to the previous day with a strong tide at the top Mark pulling people towards it. The competition was very tough to keep up with during the race but it was definitely a learning experience. The second race of the day was not so good as I made a massive mistake on the first upwind sending me from around 5th to 20th in 100 metres. So I had to resort to the catch up game once again. I found a good groove on the downwind and was able to overtake around 3 boats, on the second upwind I was able to pass a further 5 boats and close the gap between myself and the leading group.

On the Monday which was the final racing day the wind had picked up to around 20 knots, the tide was still running quite strong and racing was tiring, by the first race began I had already been out for around an hour. I felt comfortable with my position throughout the first race of the day but suffered some damage when a piece of my tiller broke off and affected my steering, this resulted in me dropping back around 3 places on the last downwind and upwind, before this happened however the racing was intense as the front leaders group were bunched close together resulting in some intense moments where a simple mistake could send the leader to the back of the front group within seconds, I myself was in a good position for each leg of the race making sure I always had clear wind and was not getting affected by other competitors. Before the last race of the series I had fixed my tiller by tying the rope holding my rudder down around the tiller locking it in, the start of the race for me was very good but I was very tired and as a result my performance lacked what it had in the beginning of the regatta, but I still managed to hold onto a good position during the entirety of the race and believe I sailed well on all legs of the race although I did hit the top Mark at the beginning of the race, this was caused by a strong tide and not accounting it in when heading for the top Mark, this didn't really affect my position in the racing luckily, downwind was very physical as the waves built up enough to warrant constant surfing to move forwards in the fleet.