16 and Flying High!
Sailing is my life...for now and for the foreseeable future. A couple of weeks ago I turned 16. This is a milestone year for kids everywhere. At 16, we gain a higher level of independence. We can drive...without our parents in the car. We can choose where we go...
The Ultimate Goal and How To Get There!
Everyone knows that I am aiming to win the Olympic Gold Medal in the Mixed Multihull discipline at the Games in Rio! Most of you know that I will stop at nothing to achieve my goal and that I have dedicated the next four years of my life to this one. I also have...
New Plan For The Podium in 2013 through the 2016 Games!
Being named to the US Sailing Development Team at 15 years old is a huge accomplishment in my sailing career but it is just the beginning of my path towards winning Olympic Gold! I have decided that the best option for my development and success is to spend the next...
Back To Clearwater For More Training
Since I first started sailing multihulls, I have been dong a lot of my training in Clearwater, Florida. My coach, Robbie Daniels and Red Gear Racing are based here and so it is a perfect place to train in light and shifty breeze. Red Gear Racing offers a pretty...
Rio in 2016, Against All Odds!
As the youngest athlete currently competing for the single US birth at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the cards are stacked against me. But just you watch... You can say I am the youngest and therefore I have less experience than I need to win Olympic Gold in the sport of...
It’s an AHPC Viper For Me
In the world of F16 sailing there are a lot of choices. There are many great boat builders that have tremendous designs and intriguing use of the simple box rule of this development class. The sails, the blades, the spars and even the tramps and the way they are...
Planning for 2013 and beyond
Following my performance at the US Sailing qualifier for the ISAF Youth Worlds in 2013 and making the US Sailing Development Team I have spent some time thinking about my next steps and how I can best utilize my time, resources and coaching to get me to the 2016...
Long Month of Training in Clearwater
With the US qualifier for the USAF Youth World Championship happening in Clearwater, Florida I was uniquely supported to be able to spend an extended period of time training in the same waters (all thanks to Robbie and Jill of Red Gear Racing). When we were at the F16...
2012 Orange Bowl Regatta
I have been sailing in the Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami, Florida since I was 9 years old. It was a little depressing to think that I was not going to be competing as there are no multihulls at this regatta. You see, Orange Bowl is awesome international competition...
Big thanks to our Sponsors
This Campaign would not be possible without the support of our sponsors. This year at the 2012 F16 Nationals in Panama City Florida, we had the support of SEA (Sail Equipment Australia) and Harken. Both have done their part to make sure that my crew and I did the best...
1400 Days to Get to RIO!
In exactly 1,400 days the Olympic Games will open in Rio De Janerio, Brazil and I will be marching through the opening ceremony parade of athletes as the world celebrates athletic achievement! I will be representing the United States as an elite athlete in my sport...
The 17’s are Coming and You Can Win!
This weekend I learned that the first shipment of NACRA 17's are scheduled to arrive in December and that I can get one of those first boats! This is great news because as of today, no one in the USA has one, and to my knowledge there are only two boats in the entire...
A Huge Thank You
Sailing a campaign for the Olympics is the culmination of a lifetime of sailing. In a sport that is not inexpensive (to say the least), spending more than half of my live sailing competitively has been an awesome experience and has taught me still unknown number of...
A new Sponsorship Opportunity
In my quest for the Team USA slot for the 2016 Games in Rio, I am sailing a lot! Over the next four years I am pretty much sailing full time, training in Florida, Texas, California, Ohio and spending 2-3 weeks before each event practicing in locations like Spain,...
F18 Worlds Day 5
Saturday was the final day of the F18 World Championships in Los Angles. It was extremely light, and we only got off one race, but it was a race to remember. I knew that with the light wind, we had to just go for a good start and good boat speed to be able to stay...
F18 Worlds Day 4
Today was not the best day of the event, with finishes in the 20's all day. All of the races were just about the same, having all the same problems in every race. We had boat speed issues upwind, and made bad tactical calls in the first race. The starts were very...
F18 Worlds Day 3
Today was the third day of racing in Los Angles. It was a long and hard day of sailing for both skipper and crew. In the first race, we didn't have a very strong start after getting pinched off and rolled by a boat from the Netherlands. We tacked away, and then all of...
F18 Worlds Day 1
Today marked the official start of the F18 World Championships in Long Beach California. When everyone launched this morning, it was cold, foggy and kind of ere. As all 113 boats sailed out to the race course, the wind was coming from south east, or about 90 degrees...
Worlds Practice Race
Today was the last practice day for worlds, and we were lucky enough to have the Race Committee put together a practice race for us. I was not expecting much from it other than some good line ups and practice starts in the lighter than usual breeze that we had today....
Practice Day
Blair and I fixed a few things on the boat this morning and are getting ready to roll out for another couple hours on the Pacific Ocean. Sailing out here is like a dream come true. 18 knots every afternoon and the sunshine that just doesn't stop... Sailing in worlds...
LA Baby!
After an ungodly early flight for anyone (but especially for a teenager) I arrived in Los Angeles yesterday morning and headed off to ABYC to find the boat and those that had already arrived. Well, I did have to stop off at In-N-Out to get my fill of the best fast...
School, Sailing and Life
It is that time of year again when all of my friends are back in school, complaining about the workload, their class schedule and the apparent lack of free time they now realize in their lives. School is a normal part of life for us teenagers, and when we graduate...
Canadian Nationals Day 1
Today was the first day of Canadian nationals in Kingston. It was extremely light all day with winds hitting only around 5 knots. Blair and I got off the dock a little late and had little time to test upwind with other boats before the start. The two of us had...
Featured in USODA Sailing Newsletter
Over the past year communication from the Nation's Optimist class has gone extreme! With their new Editor for OptiNews and all class communications, Betsy Altman the level of information and value of content has skyrocketed and is now (in my opinion) one of the best...
A Reality of the Fall Season
Managing a campaign for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, so much of my time and energy goes into my daily workouts in the gym, practice on the water and yoga for mental strength but this time of year reality always smacks me in the face. Being only 15, and a...
Heading back to Kingston and CORK!
I have been sailing since I was 8 years old and started sailing competitively when I was 9. Over those many years of my life, I have sailed in a variety of venues. Each presented a new and exciting challenge, from the frustrations of dealing with above-the-surface...
123 Strong at the 2012 F18 Worlds in Los Angeles, CA
While I am starting to prepare to head South for a long winter of training (which will include finding a full-time partner for the campaign), my primary focus right now is on the F18 World Championship regatta, which I am sailing with New England sailor Blair Tolland....
2012 Alter Cup Regatta
Registration is open for the 2012 Alter Cup Regatta, which is coming up November 15-18 at Pensacola Bay Yacht Club, just a couple days after the US F16 National Championships are completed nearby! I am all registered and ready to sail strong at the US Sailing...
US F16 National Championships in November
In case you didn't know, the F16 USA National Championship regatta is coming up November 9-11 2012 at St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club in Panama City, Florida! Guess what? I am all registered and will be at the regatta ready to pull out all the stops to finish at the top...
Come Train in S. Florida this winter!
Having officially launched my campaign for the 2016 Games in Rio, I will be training most of this winter in South Florida and am looking for two or three teams from other countries that want to come and put in some serious training hours with me! Obviously with the...