After experiencing Dinghy Academy’s level of education, the original ten days turned into a serious month at Med. Nothing else could have helped my development with a bunch of the best training partners, good winds and good equipment.
The training style consisted of short and intense daily runs that gave the sailors reins where they themselves wanted to develop. Disseminating junior world championship courses and just practically gave me a unique ability to make direct improvements to things that prevented me from the regatta, and then some. I made a profit with wind tactics, boat handling, speed and technology. In addition, fitness was greatly improved by visiting the gym every day and pumping for free.
I made a lot of friends in Valencia and it was interesting to live without a family or a person I knew before living there. I felt like I was growing a lot and learning to slow down and relax even as I worked every day improved, a class I use now every day.
I can’t wait to be able to work out again with Valencia friends, but so far I’m focusing on home training and events.
Sølvkop 2015
Last Sunday we won a silver cup here in Valencia. The regatta brought the races close to the world’s 30 best, less than 23 Finnish sailors. Because of the heat wave that passed Western Europe, we did not see the typical sea breeze in Valencia. Instead, we had 4-15 knots on the eastern slopes as standard, but mostly between 7-9 knots.
When I went to the event, I really had no expectations other than hard sailing and concentration as it was only my second regatta finish. I think that I have achieved this goal. A couple of bad starts, marked by a very active judging team, stopped me, but I felt my speed in the wind and the wind helped me overcome these setbacks.
When I came home from the event, I took a lot to learn from myself. Included is a list of skills I need to use to my advantage, as well as a long list of weaknesses that I will usually cultivate in the coming weeks. For the next ten days, I will be training at the Dinghy Academy in Valencia and I look forward to jumping on my sails.
The visit here was fabulous with “Dinghy”. Strong crew approx. 15 workouts with water is great and we have fun in the water. The perfect way to spend the summer. Gym, Work Out, Relax, Play. Low jump.
Summer 16:00
Wow, what a great end to the summer! See how Caleb takes the bronze medal, sail the M32 with 13FIFTY Racing, live TP52 racing with Spookie and a foiled 46 ‘catamaran. My second and final camp in Rio ended in July, and I flew directly to Newport to participate in 13FIFTY Racing. 13FIFTY is an American sailing team battling for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup 2017. I am so grateful that I am part of the group of sailors, of which I learn every day. Our team includes several ISAF Youth World Champions, ICSA Seaman of the Year and World Champions. Guys like Mac Agnese, Nevin Snow, James Moody, Erika Reineke, Riley Gibbs, Sam Hallowell and Ravi Parent form a kick group where you can sail and hang out.
We started the summer with the M32 Catamaran Mid-West Tour: sailing in Harbor Springs-MI, Wayzata-MN and Chicago. Each place taught me a new lesson and came up with their own surprises. Michigan wanted to learn the insights of the M32. I was part of the rigging and unloading of 6 boats and was responsible for finding our M32 team during the event. I spent every night under the hull with a bottle of soap and a sponge, strengthening the boom, re-tightening the lines, or squaring the raft. It felt good to get away from a hard sailing day; I have worked in a couple of finished and practiced my skills learned in the days ago. The place was also nice. I have never expected sunsets and water to be as pastel and bright as VI in Michigan. We then drove through the Upper Peninsula and through grain fields to Minnesota.
Our other destination, Wayzata, was on the eastern shore of Lake Minnetonka. We were there at a possible World Match Race Tour stop for hometown hero Sam Rogers