It’s been a super busy start to the year with a lot of air miles collected and at times a very confused body not knowing when to sleep and when to take on some caffeine to stay awake.

 It’s been great to be involved in a wide variety of sailing from my moth in Weymouth in 6 degrees to sweating it out in Singapore and Oman in the extreme 40s and Miami with the Melges 20 and 32.

Things have been progressing nicely in the moth getting on the water when the weather allows with a good bunch on Brits. The weather has been a little challenging with some cold and very windy spells but we have pushed on and been out flying around the harbour with big smiles, so much fun. I even made it up to Queen Mary for the first grand prix event of the year with an impressive 38 boats turning out. The racing was good and I was pretty pleased to finish 3rd in my first time racing in an event.  

The extreme 40 has been a very challenging learning curve with BAR racing. Pretty under prepared due to the lack of practise that’s down to shipping schedules and the ability to get our hands on the boat, the team has had to learn quickly. It’s been fun but not all the time, learning to race multihulls in some pretty crazy and constrained racecourses can be quite stressful. Its feels very rewarding though when you learn so quickly and can implement the new skills the next day racing.  

Team Samba are back up and running in the Melges 32, we have had a few crew changes since we last sailed together winning the worlds in 2012 and the game has moved on a bit. It’s going to be a nice challenge getting back on the pace in preparation for the worlds in December but it’s going to be fun, Miami is a pretty good spot especially  out on the ocean! I’m also sailing the 20 with Samba this year, with around 40 boats at the last 2 events the racing has been great and I’m sure will only get better as the fleet continues to grow.

I’m really enjoying the variety and the amount I’m learning at the moment, it’s really refreshing to be on a steep learning curve again. I have just arrived in Miami ready for some more 32 sailing before heading back home to take delivery of my new moth….. A very lucky boy!