YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

What an amazing week at my debut World Championships in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland.  A pretty wacky championships gave us a mix of conditions and a lot of waiting around, and I mean a lot!

The racing kicked off on Monday with two races in an offshore breeze of 10 knots and flat water.  The wind was incredibly unpredictable, just as it was all week.  I sailed two good races that day with a 10th and 13th, it’s always nice to get the pre race nerves out of the way on the 1st day and get stuck into racing mode.

Day two, I ended up being on the water for six hours to sail just one race!  The wind was extremely variable and doing multiple 180 degree shifts.  The one race that we sailed on day two was in fickle winds with the unpredictability still playing a big part.  Unfortunately I sailed my self into 48th position, fortunately I was able to discard that race.

On Wednesday and Day three of the championships we spent another seven hours on the water to sail two races.  The first race of the day I finished in a mediocre 23rd, I finished 3rd in the second race of the day which more than made up for my mishap on day two.

The third day of the regatta brought a brisk 15-20 knots of wind that come over Dublin city.  This kept the conditions shifty, gusty and similar to that of the previous races.  We were able to squeeze three races in which brought us back on schedule from the race missed at the beginning of the championship.  Although I sailed well enough to secure my position in gold fleet (on day 4 the fleet split into 4 separate fleets; the best quarter of boats being the gold fleet) I was disappointed with my performance in these races scoring a 16th, 15th and 10th,  I’m usually a lot stronger when it’s windier but some poor decisions put me on the back foot from the start and I was forced to fight my way through the fleet in all three races.

Day 5 was very tedious with a lot of waiting and no racing.  Im happy to say that some of my friends and I made the most of the time and had a great laugh on the water, we even stayed out longer than the entire fleet to nail this picture, but of course we did it first time!

Day 6 was the final day of racing and the only day of racing in gold fleet.  We sailed another 3 races where I scored an 8th, 16th, and my second discard of the regatta, a 45th.  I finished the regatta in 19th but unfortunately due to a protest, that was nothing to do with me, I dropped one place to finish 20th overall!

20th in the world at my first every world championships.  Super happy!  Next up is the European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.  But before I travel out to Tallinn I have a few days to relax in London with my parents, a bit of sight seeing is in order I think.  Check back for more updates soon!

Lewis

Full results here:

http://www.laserradialworlds2016.com/race-results/laser-boys-2016-gold.htm

UK YOUTH SQUAD CAMP

The big summer trip has begun, and what a weekend to start it off with!  Sunny Weymouth provided the team with champagne sailing conditions 4 days straight with 20+ degrees and fair winds.

This was my first trip heading down south that I was been able to help with the driving, which made it a lot easier for my Mum. We arrived late Friday night, with the camp kicking off the next morning.  The camp started off with a short briefing and we swiftly got on the water for a great session in the sun.  We sailed in the harbour for 3 days and out of the harbour on the last day to get a contrast of sea states which was very beneficial to me; I managed to take learning points away, from all 3 coaches we had, in the different conditions.

Wearing my summer wetsuit in Weymouth certainly wasn’t something I was expecting to happen!

At the half way stage of the camp we were fortunate enough to have the British Sailing Team psychologist Sophie Walton answer questions we had about the up coming competitions and how to deal with our mind-set and behaviour.  The main thing I took from this was to be an individual and not to be led by anyone else when it comes down to my routine and what works best for me.

The day after the camp was finished we all drove in convoy to Holyhead, Wales to catch the ferry across to Dublin, Ireland for the Youth World Championships.  Due to traffic accidents we decided to travel through Snowdonia National Park on our way to Holyhead.  The scenery is really quite impressive and we took a few stops on the way to take it all in! After a 2 hour ferry crossing we were docked in Dublin and we only had a short 30 minute drive to Dun Laoghaire Harbour to drop the boats off at the venue.

The World Championships start on the 23rd July, until then I will be training and getting used to the venue and my surroundings.  Watch this space for a post competition update!

Lewis

RYA UK TRANSITION COACHING

Thanks to Tim Ellis at RYA Scotland for asking me to help coach at the RYA UK Transition (T1) training camp the other day, it was great to see laser sailing from a different perspective from usual.

My first motorway trip driving in the car landed me in Largs Yacht Haven at around 8:30am.  I assisted the head coach Andrew McGowan in the morning briefing at 9 and we swiftly headed out on the water after I went through some rigging tips with the team.  The main focus of the camp was posture, both upwind and downwind which led on from the previous camp.  We also touched on sail setup, Harris and I had a good chat about the differences between the 4.7 sail and the Radial sail.

It was a great feeling to coach the squad I was part of 3 years ago and I am glad to give back to what was a very influential point in my Laser sailing.

The big summer trip is just around the corner! I set off for a UK Youth Squad camp in Weymouth this weekend so watch this space.

Lewis

KIELER WOCHE 2016

Just finished an intense 4 week block of sailing, exhausted is an understatement!

It all started straight off the back of the Mull trip in my last post.  I sailed with Jamie Calder out of our home club, Royal Forth Yacht Club (RFYC) for the first of the 4 weeks where we settled back into the boats after a long time spent away from the water due to exams.  We had amazing conditions, just like always on the Forth, good breeze and nice waves; even the sun popped out for a short while at the beginning of the week.  We were fortunate enough to have Tim Hulse come up from down south to coach us on two of the days, he helped us refine our sailing in preparation for our trip to Germany the following week.

Part 2 consisted of my trip to Germany for Kieler Woche with Jamie and Calum Rosie.  Kiel week is an amazing experience! If you have the chance to go for any reason at all, GO!  We drove from Edinburgh down to Newcastle and hopped on an overnight ferry that took us into Amsterdam.  About 7 hours later we arrived in Kiel where we set up camp in the van and the awning.

Our trip to Germany involved 2 international regattas, 9 days of back to back racing, 1 day of training before hand and my birthday.  I sailed in the open Radial event first, it was a pretty windy few days which suited me well and I was very very happy to achieve my best international result to date by finishing 5th overall out of a fleet of 120!

The second regatta was with the big boys… the olympic class week.  I sailed in the 110 strong Laser Standard fleet, 5 of which are competing in the Rio Olympics.  It was a big learning curve for me with this being my 3rd full rig event and my first international event.  Not a result to take away but a lot to work on, which is exciting!

I was shattered by the last day, but I have to say it was great to spend the trip with these guys!

The end of my 4 week block of sailing included: packing up in Kiel, my flight home and another amazing weekend spent on the Forth training with Jamie and Tim Hulse.  We had great conditions (bar the rain) with some big waves and strong winds.  A very windy Sunday saw Jamie and I sail through a squall that an easy jet flight about to land in Edinburgh had to change course and avoid, I’m pretty certain its the fastest I’ve gone in my laser!  Great fun and lots of good points to take away and work on.

I have a couple of weeks at home before I leave again for the 2 remaining international regattas.  Until then I’ll be doing some coaching, yacht sailing at RFYC and carrying on my work in the gym. So keep checking in for more updates soon!

Lewis

Radial Open Results:

http://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/3d6e4588-3363-4d3d-afad-8e656da38cba/#!/results?classId=447515ad-f7da-4d61-9ac4-8f5b5a7f3789

Standard Results:

http://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/3d6e4588-3363-4d3d-afad-8e656da38cba/#!/results?classId=b503aa7f-fabd-4e20-b9cc-7becae318f69

ISLE OF MULL CYCLING SPORTIVE

Exams are done! Phew.  I had my last exam, Physical Education, on Friday.  I also sat Geography, Graphic Communications and Computing Science at the beginning of May, all at SQA Higher level.  Definitely feeling the sailing withdrawal symptoms after a month of hard revision!  During May I was lucky enough that my exams landed me a nice 2 week gap at the half way stage allowing me to sit my driving test with enough time either side for minimal stress.  I’m pleased to say I passed first time!  But before I get too carried away on four wheels trailing up and down the country, I decided to spend last weekend on two wheels instead.

I spent the weekend with a close friend of mine, Tom, who’s a former training partner.  We travelled to the Isle of Mull which, on this occasion, greeted us with a very pleasant 20+ degrees.  Tom and I travelled over to take part in the 70km (44mile) sportive cycling event that takes place on Mull every year.  It was a great weekend out in the sun and allowed me to continue my cardio fitness on the bike, but just a little further a field.

I now look forward to a very busy summer ahead, involving 4 international regattas!  But before I travel to the first of these events in Kiel, Germany I have a few days training with Jamie Calder at home, sailing out of Royal Forth Yacht Club.

Lewis

Full results here:

http://www.mullcyclosportive.co.uk/Results.html

Kudos to Tom for 2nd Place!

YOUTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS PWLLHELI

Just back from a busy couple of weeks training for, and competing in the Youth National Championships in North Wales.  The week prior was spent training with fellow Scottish sailors Clemmie Thompson and Anna Sturrock with coach Tim Ellis (photo credit to Tim!).  We were lucky enough to use the new Garmin Virb GPS Cameras, the content was great to analyse after sailing.  We were able to compare video evidence of techniques and see how it affected our speed.  They were also helpful in gauging what side of the course was favoured as we could overlay each sailors GPS track along with their speed.  Very technical but a great tool.

The Racing started on Monday and we sailed in some very light breeze that constrained us to only sailing one race.  Coming 3rd in that race put me third overall, surprise surprise, and I went into day 2 with the red dot.  The second day was a high scoring day for me unfortunately, with me picking up a large discard with another large result to count.  I was happy to finish the last race in 4th to finish the day on a high.  Day 3 saw no racing due to high winds.  The breeze carried through from Wednesday into Thursday but only a shade lighter to allow racing to go ahead.  I found the conditions difficult which led to me having an inconsistent day with a 10th, 2nd and 6th.  Unfortunately I carried on my inconsistency into the final day picking up my second discard along with a 12th and a 3rd.

I was disappointed to finish 8th overall as I know myself I can sail a lot better given my results in the qualifiers.  It has been a massive learning curve for me as the experience in these pressured events will help me cope with them in the future.  However it isn’t all bad…

Finishing 8th has landed me a spot in the British Youth Sailing Team to compete at the Youth European Championships in Tallin, Estonia at the beginning of August! Not bad at all, very very happy and I can’t wait!

It’s now time to knuckle down for my exams.  It is an important year for me in school with university conditions to meet so I have chosen to put the sailing aside from the end of the Youth Nationals up until my last exam.  After my exams in June I will be travelling to Kiel in Germany for 2 international regattas, so I have that to look forward to!

Lewis

Full results here:

Be sure to select the “Radial Boys” tab;

http://events.sailracer.org/eventsites/results_viewer-v2.asp?id=40191&eventid=204289&classtype=420&templ=&panels=

Congratulations to fellow training partner Jamie for winning, well done mate!

UK WORLD + EUROPEAN SPRING QUALIFIERS

Back at home this weekend after 3 consecutive weekends on the water competing in the UK World and European Qualifiers.  The first weekend was sailed in Weymouth from the National Sailing Academy, we raced inside the harbour for a change.  A great decision by the race officer considering how cold it was, especially compared to Scotland! The racing was hard fought and I am pleased to have finished near the top of the results despite the very shifty and gusty conditions.  I finished 4th overall and 3rd U19, very happy!

The second weekend was sailed in the waters of Plymouth, we launched from the Mount Batten Centre.  I took the decision to sail a full rig (bigger sail than usual) for that weekend, so that I had the option to compete in the full rig over the summer to aid my transition into the new rig at the end of this year.  It also gave me great experience sailing against the current world champion, Nick Thompson!  I was extremely happy with my performance,  mixing in with the top guys and learning loads along the way.  Happy to have finished 15th overall and 5th Youth despite equipment failure in the last race of the event (kicker snapped!).

Last weekend and the last of the spring qualifiers was sailed in tricky conditions in a North Easterly in Stokes Bay.  The tricky conditions took there toll on my results after day 1 with me sitting just outside the top ten counting a 14th, 13th and 8th.  The Sunday was far better.  Seeing similar conditions with a better understanding of what was going on let me piece together 3 solid results.  A 2nd, 6th and a 2nd leap frogged me up into 4th overall and 1st Under 19! My best UK result to date, supper pleased!

Next week I travel to Pwllheli in North Wales to compete at the RYA Youth National Championships!

Lewis

Radial Youth Ladder:

http://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=84&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/radyouthlad.2016nh.html

Plymouth Qualifier:

http://www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=83&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/plymstd.2016nh.html

TRINITY ACADEMY SPORTS AWARDS

In the middle of a busy March my school organised a Sports Awards evening.  It was a great night that had extremely good live music and was very well hosted by friends of mine.  Mark Robertson, who plays for the Scottish 7’s Rugby Team, attended as a guest speaker and spoke some very motivational words.  The evening ended with the presentation of the Trinity Academy Sports Personality of the Year Award, and I am very pleased to say that I was the winner of this award!  I will echo my speech and say a very well done to the other nominees who all deserve the award just as much as I do.  Also a massive thank you to my family and friends but especially my Mum, my Dad and my girlfriend Alex who all make my sailing worthwhile and possible.  Thank You!  Thank you to everyone who helped organise the evening and well done to everyone who received an award.  A special congrats to Alex for winning Team of the Year along with the rest of the Hockey Team.

Lewis

ROYAL FORTH YACHT CLUB TALK

Thank you to Patrick Carnie and Royal Forth Yacht Club for inviting me to talk on Tuesday evening. It was very enjoyable despite my initial nerves.  I gave a presentation of my sailing journey from where it all began right up until last winter.   I gave a detailed account of the main things I learned at each point in my sailing so far.  I decided to talk about my main learning points to do with strategy and mindset, I feel as though these areas can be applied to a wider range of people in sailing rather than boat specifics.  There was a great response to what I had to say and the audience seemed interested in what I was talking about, which is a great feeling!  It was wonderful to be asked by the club to talk and it is very nice to be able to give back to the club as it was at RFYC where I started my sailing career.

If you are interested in having me talk at your local club or event please see the talks page in the menu above.