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 Upon arriving in Perth, I opened up a book that had been sitting on my parent’s bookshelf for a few years. I pulled out the old bookmark, which happened to be an Olympic sailing ticket from the 2004 Athens Olympics.  It was a good laugh and a positive sign.  My training program for the 2011 World Championships in Perth was nearly identical to the program I ran leading up to the Sail For Gold Regatta in June, Weymouth UK.  I did over train for the Weymouth event and tired quickly toward the end of that regatta.  H...

The Pan American Games was truly an unbelievable experience.   There were various moments throughout the event, where I would stop, look around, acknowledge my surroundings and think to myself what an amazing place to be and to compete.  I finished in 7th place.  It is not a great result, but I had some very strong races.  There were a few aspects that made the sailing challenging and sometimes frustrating.  For one, the racecourse was skewed for a majority of the racing.  A skewed course eliminates passing la...

The Pan American Games occur once every four years, one year before the Olympics.  The games include Olympic sports and non-Olympic sports and provide athletes a great way to tune up and for some sports, qualify for the Olympics. For aspiring Olympic sailors, this event does not count towards our Olympic selection.  The event thus far has been an incredible experience and I am extremely proud to be representing the USA in windsurfing here in Mexico.  Unlike traditional sailing regattas, there is much more activity and excitement ...

I have never competed in an Olympic Games before; however, the Olympic Test Event (OTE), was a close indication of what the games will be like next year: High pressure, more media and a very high concentration of the world’s best sailors. The regatta only consisted of 34 competitors; each competitor was the sole representative for their respective nation. The small field of the world’s best RS:X sailors made the fleet extremely unforgiving, but the racing, pressure and general ambiance was great practice as I continue to work towar...

The Weymouth and Portland area in Southwestern England is a most unique spot.  The area is a historical landmark, a popular spot for prisons and you can’t say the word “rabbit.”   The isle of Portland, situated just south of Weymouth was previously occupied by the Royal Air force and was a tactical location for many famous World War II battles. Portland harbor was a crucial embarkation point for the allied forces on the D – Day invasion.   The British Air Force occupied Portland harbor up until 1995 t...

I prepared with long hours of training and conditioning for this important event.  My coach and I defined success as soundly defeating the American competition for the Olympic selection process and at the same time sailing competitively against a fleet of the best 85 windsurfers in the world. The hard work paid off! At the end of the regatta, the next American was 14 positions behind.  In eight of the 10 races, I finished ahead of my principal competitor, generally far ahead. In addition my second goal was met.  Although I finis...

SOF Regatta: Scheduling and planning an Olympic trials year is difficult. It is imperative to get enough competition experience, but too much can be stressful as being away from home for so long is taxing on the mind and body.   Therefore, after my trip to New Zealand I decided to skip the Spanish World Cup event and only do the French World Cup event, the SOF Regatta.  The primary purpose of competing at the SOF regatta was to utilize the newly acquired skills I learned in NZ at a big event.   My hope was that the reg...

New Zealand is like prison: Impossible to leave.  That is how I felt when I was driving to the airport for my 20-hour trek home, but all good things must come to an end…I suppose.  Throughout the duration of my New Zealand experience, there one was theme that was consistent day in and day out: Have fun. And that is exactly what we as a group did.  Despite how enjoyable every aspect of the trip was, the training, however, was more intense and challenging (mentally and physically) than any training I have ever done.  Fo...

I have been on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand for two weeks now and my appreciation for this country and its people continues to grow. It seems like every place I travel to here in NZ, I need to stop what I am doing and soak in the scenery for a few minutes. Over the past 10 days, we have traveled to the west coast, to the city, to a volcano and to a variety of different bays for training purposes. Fortunately, our training schedule has allowed me to see some remarkable places, sail in some crystal clear blue water and surf some wave...

Rolex Miami Olympic Class Regatta: #1 Ranked Spot on 2011 US Sailing Team Alphagraphics and Only US Windsurfing Representative at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico This year, the Rolex Miami OCR was the qualifier for the US Pan American Games Representative spot and the 2011 US National Team (2 spots). Needless to say, I accomplished the ultimate goal for this event: Top American Finisher. I finished 15th overall, in one of the most competitive, yet small fleets on the world cup circuit. Out of the 31 competitors, there were: ...