Next Stop: Worlds

Well, it’s time. We're going to Ireland. Even typing that feels a little surreal.

There are suitcases starting to appear around the house. Sailing gear is being sorted into piles. I'm making lists for two kids, checking travel logistics, thinking about boats and weather and what absolutely cannot get lost by an airline.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I keep having the same thought:

I'm going to the World Championships.

Not someday. Not if everything works out. In a few days.

The Dream Gets Real

When I started Second Wind, the idea was pretty simple, even if the goal wasn't. Come back. See what was still there. Find out what might be possible if I stopped assuming the biggest athletic chapters of my life were already behind me.

That question has taken me a lot farther than I expected. I went from getting back into a Laser after years away, to racing around the country, to lining up against some of the best sailors in the world. There have been races where I've felt like I absolutely belonged out there. There have also been plenty where I've wondered what the hell I was doing. I've gotten faster. I've gotten stronger. I've also been humbled over and over again.

And now the next start line is in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland.

The travel gods are already shining on us! The airline didn’t charge me extra for the giant gear bag.

This Wasn't the Run-Up I Imagined

If you'd asked me a few months ago what the weeks before Worlds would look like, I probably would have described a lot more sailing. Instead, I've spent much of this final stretch doing physical therapy, Pilates, rehab exercises and trying to get my knee healthy enough to do what I'm asking it to do. It's been frustrating.

My instinct has always been to solve problems by working harder. Turns out, that doesn't work particularly well when the thing you're trying to fix is your body. So I've had to adjust. I've had to trust the fitness I've already built and the experience I've accumulated this year. I've had to accept that I'm not going to show up in Ireland with the preparation I pictured months ago.

But I am going to show up. And I'm going to race.

I'm Not Going Alone

One of the things I didn't understand when I started this project was how many people would eventually become part of it. My family has rearranged schedules, hauled boats, sat through regattas and accepted that our vacations now all involve boat parks.

Coaches have invested their time in me. Friends have checked in after the hard days and celebrated the good ones. Sponsors and supporters have helped turn opportunities that felt financially or logistically impossible into actual plane tickets, entry fees and days on the water. And thousands of people I have never met have followed along, sent messages and told me to keep going.

That has meant more than I know how to explain. Somewhere along the way, Second Wind became about more than me trying to sail fast again. It's about what can happen when you decide you're allowed to want something big again.

So, What Do I Expect at Worlds?

I expect it to be hard. Really hard.

This is the ILCA 6 Women's World Championship. I'll be on a racecourse with extraordinary athletes, many of whom have spent years building their lives around this level of competition. I know where I am in that field, and I'm not going to Ireland pretending otherwise. But I'm also not going just to say I went. I'm going to fight for every start, every shift and every boat I can get. I'm going to learn as much as I possibly can.

And when something goes wrong, because something always goes wrong in sailboat racing, I'm going to reset and race the next one.

The Next Start Line

For a long time, Worlds has been something out there on the calendar. Something I was training for. Planning for. Raising money for. Talking about.

Now I'm standing in my house looking at half-packed suitcases. It's not out there anymore. It's here. In a few days, I'll get on a plane with my family. I'll pick up a boat in Ireland. I'll rig an ILCA on the other side of the Atlantic. And I'll push it down the ramp toward a World Championship racecourse.

I have absolutely no idea what happens after that. Second Wind was never about knowing how the story ends. It was about being willing to find out.

Next stop: Ireland.

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Follow along on Instagram @sailingmom2la28 for daily updates from Ireland and the ILCA 6 Women's World Championship.