On the 15th of January I flew to Barcelona for a very slightly sunnier alternative to my winter training. I met the rest of the U21 Youth Squad in Barcelona airport and we traveled to our apartment together. Unfortunately I drew 1 of 2 short straws and was left with a single bed for the week. However, the apartment was in a great location, only a 5 minute walk from the beach, and we had a supermarket underneath us which made life a lot easier!
Our boats did not arrive until the evening of the 16th which left us 2 days to explore the area and get to know our surroundings. It’s fair to say that Palamos is a lovely place and there is some great coast line to walk along. I took a few snaps of when we explored the area…
The day before racing commenced, myself and the team took to the water to get a feel for the conditions and warm ourselves up for what was to be a breezy few days! The sailing felt odd and quite dissimilar to any venue I have sailed at before – this meant there was scope to learn a lot from the unfamiliar conditions. The conditions for the training day were big breeze and BIG offset swell; these conditions were present for the duration of the regatta. It was a tough week to say the least, this is how it looked…
Day 1: 3 Races sailed in big breeze and big waves!
Day 2: 2 Races, only 1 sailed due to injury
Day 3: No sailing, 10 metre waves recorded by the committee!
Day 4: Postponed due to adverse sea state, 1 Race eventually sailed in great conditions
Day 5: We watched the medal race from the comfort of the rib
There were only 6 races held out of the scheduled 10, this was due to high winds and adverse sea state. Unfortunately I only sailed 5 of the 6 races due to an inflammation of the ligament in my knee; this was an injury I picked up at the end of my summer competitions. That aside, there was a lot to be learned from the competitors, just like there is at any international senior regatta. Although it is hard to take a positive from my final result alone, the event was a great learning curve for me. The racing gave me a good kick up the backside to step my game up 2 or so notches and really solidify my jump from the radial rig into the standard rig.
After a hard week week both physically and emotionally I flew back home on the 23rd, just in time for a quiet Christmas at home with my family. I quickly got back to training in the gym on the 28th, 29th and 30th before taking a few days off over new year.
And so my winter training continues…
Thanks for reading,
Lewis