This morning I hopped on a JetBlue flight from FLL to LAX with my crew, Katie Flood to sail in the 2013 CISA Advanced Racing Clinic.

This clinic is one of the elite youth sailing clinics in the USA for the entire year. About 150 sailors from around the country are invited to sail in this event each year, providing a unique, intense training opportunity for youth looking to dominate their class and many of us that are hoping to win the US Olympic Trials and to compete in the Games in 2016 and beyond!

CISA Advanced Racing Clinic

 

This year marks the first year CISA has added multihulls to their training camp and a select group of teams were invited to train on F18’s in the demanding waters of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, California.  Katie and I are looking forward to a week of aggressive sailing and opportunities to learn a lot from the top coaches in the country.  The clinic provides us sailors with daily workouts from Anapolis Sailing Fitness and a full 13 hours a day of land drills, classroom work and on the water training at ABYC, the host of the 1984 Summer Olympic Sailing venue.

ABYC Clubhouse

 

The last day of the 2013 CISA Advanced Racing Clinic features the annual CISA regatta. While Katie and I are underweight for an F18 and the potential winds that we will likely face on the Pacific Ocean, we are hoping to learn a lot and to come out at the top of the F18 fleet in California. On Tuesday night, we fly back to Florida so Katie can go back to school and I can take my FCAT exams as soon as we land on Wednesday morning!

After this event, Katie will be sailing at the Miami to Key Largo regatta next weekend and I will travel to Sarasota for their Sailfest regatta and an opportunity to get back on my F16 with Max Hudson for our first time on the boat together.  Then Max and I will head up to Clearwater for the week to train with Robbie at Red Gear Racing and then we will race the following weekend at the Gulfport Multihul Regatta where I can defend my title from last year!

I am excited to be back in an aggressive, daily training mode and am looking forward to a great spring and summer of sailing to be ready to win the US Sailing Youth Championships in August!

I will send some updates on Twitter from California and will put details of my experience here following the 2013 CISA Advanced Racing Clinic! I love being able to sail at this level at the age of 16 and it would not be possible without the support of my parents, my campaign contributors and sponsors!  Thank you to all and I will achieve my goals with your continues support.

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