Regatta Wrap-Up: ILCA-NA Midwinters East

This was a tough one. First regatta back, light and shifty air, and shallow choppy water. This all made for a difficult start back.

Day 1: Thursday, February 19, 2026 - The Mental Shift.

I have to admit that I was pretty frustrated and was feeling embarrassed about my performance following the first day. I didn’t expect to be in first place right out of the gate, but I thought I could be in the top 20 or so. That was pretty quickly proven to be ambitious as I finished with scores of 35, 27, and 44 in the fleet of 53 and was ranked 73rd out of the total 106 ILCA 6s. There was a brief period where the scoring software messed up and my scores were displaying even worse results and showed me in 95th place. I was stunned.

The self doubt began to creep in. I’m not good enough for this. I can’t keep up with kids less than half my age. And so on. But, after a good cry, I was reminded that it has been just four months since I underwent a seven and a half hour abdominal reconstruction surgery. I am only 12 weeks removed from not being able to walk my kids the block and a half to school or lay down flat because it hurt too much. And, it was only six weeks ago on December 30th that I was cleared by the doctors to begin physical therapy.

So, I took a deep breath, decided to give myself some grace and space to understand this is just part of the journey. Instead of focusing on the negative, I tried to shift focus to the positives and the strides I’ve made. I’m here. I’m racing. I’m not in last. I’m not even in the bottom 30! I couldn’t walk 12 weeks ago and now I’m performing on the water! The new focus for the regatta became clear: Simply work towards improving each time I get out on the water. I can do this. One. Step. At. A. Time.

Day 2: Friday, February 20, 2026 - Patience Is Tested

Day two dawned and my hopes for more favorable sailing conditions were dashed. Millpond. Breathless. Doldrums. We were sent out anyway and we bobbed for five hours with no racing before the day was called. Difficult to put the new plan into practice when there’s no wind. Oh, well it was a pretty day.

Day 3: Saturday, February 21, 2026 - More Light Air

We started the day with a long delay - no wind, again. This time we were postponed on shore. By the time lunch came around, I decided to tempt fate and order a delicious salad at the fantastic Key Biscayne Yacht Club bar and, predictably, as I was waiting for it to be made the postponement flag came down. So, I got to enjoy the salad to-go as I sailed out to the starting line.

We got two races in today. It was a beautiful, sunny, and warm day with lots of traffic on the water. The shallow water sent a lot of chop rebounding from the local boating traffic. Light wind, lots of chop, and I just couldn’t seem to get out from under other’s wind shadows. A disappointing two races with me in 41st and 45th in my fleet and I dropped to 84th overall.

Day 4: Sunday, February 22, 2026 - The Wind, Finally, Picked Up

We only got one race in today, but the wind finally filled in nicely and was blowing around 20kts by 1:00 p.m. Too bad we couldn’t get a second race off before the regatta cutoff time of 2:00 p.m. I felt really good as I hiked out for the first time in earnest since the surgery and was in 6th place at the windward mark! I finished in 19th place in the silver fleet and think I could have done better too. In retrospect, I think I was focused too much on not capsizing and could have stretched the hiking out further for better overall speed.

Always nice to improve throughout the regatta weekend, finish with your best race of the regatta, and head home with some lessons learned. I’m excited to have two more tune up races coming up with my only two masters regattas of the year before Midwinters West in Mid-March and then Palma de Mallorca at the end of March. I’ve got a plan for training throughout the next several weeks to continue to strengthen the core and have at least two full skills clinic days which will be invaluable coaching time on the water coming up!

As my husband says: the most important step a person can take is always the next one. So, stick around with me as we take the next step together towards the ultimate goal of LA28!