Our first couple of days was spent orientating ourselves to the area, the weather, the location of the racing and meeting other sailors. The opening ceremony was carried out with a march around the town of Buzios and then the mixing of the water ceremony then the official opening ceremony in the centre of the town. I met my Brazilian Coach, Janatesh who was helping Santiago Lange (the official championship coach for the APP sailors) at dinner that night.
The first day of racing came with nerves and good weather. Meeting Santiago Lange (APP Coach) that day helped the nerves settle and he gave me some local knowledge from his experience sailing here many times. The laser race area was closer to the land than the rest of the courses meaning less waves but shiftier conditions. The first race was 15 knots with 2m swell and the second race the breeze eased off to 7 knots. There was a big wind shift towards the end of the second race making it an upwind to the bottom mark. I found the first race the most exhilarating experience being amongst so many boats from different countries. I had minor problems with my carbon tiller but I was able to fix the problem the next day.
The second day of racing was the windiest day of the regatta and was postponed for 2 hours and later on cancelled, shortening the series to 9 races. The rest of the day was more time for rest and interacting with different teams and sailors.
The third day of racing had action back on the water with 6-9 knots, slight swell and very shifty. Hard day as wind shifted more than twice every beat. I found myself learning more on how to read the shifts around the cliffs.
Day four was the lay day where there were activities organized for the sailors to get to know other sailors. I met heaps of people from different countries and got to know some of the teams really well.
Day five of racing was short of wind but didn’t stop the race committee from getting all the sailors out on the water. The first race started but the wind died off even more resulting in the races being cancelled to further reduce the number of races to 7.
Day six resulted in us having to do 3 races to catch up. Each race I felt myself gaining more confidence despite having minor problems with my traveler and tiller.
Day seven, last day, last race. Weather was perfect with 12-15 knots and 2m swell, everything went smoothly with tiller and traveler holding on. It was sad to know that it had come to an end. On the whole I was glad to see my results improved as the regatta went on. The goal I had set myself was to do the best I could within a world class fleet.
The closing ceremony was a ceremony I will never forget. I was lucky to be voted by the competitors and my fellow sailors to be awarded the ISAF Bengt Julin Trophy for “fostering international understanding and displaying the attributes that should be encouraged in international competition”. This was the highlight of my regatta.
I would once again like to express my thanks to the Samoa Sailing Association for selecting me to attend this prestigest event. I was proud to bear the Samoan Flag and thrilled to receive a trophy for
