MARCH 2025
GRAND SALM PALMA!
MAR – European Training Camps / British National Opens / Pack up (again)
PALMA, MALLORCA, SPAIN.
March is always pretty bonkers with the schedule and this year was no different! Balancing international training, national team obligations and continuing to qualify for future events is not always easy but at the end of the day it all accumulates into high quality training and time on the water. March started with a training camp in Palma, Mallorca – probably the all-around favourite venue for the season – but the weather did not play ball this time since it rained a biblical amount every day, so much so that the beach flooded. Despite that, the sailing was great and a short, sharp focused camp was the perfect reintroduction to the venue.
National Opens
Mid-March I popped home to compete in the National Open which operate as a qualification event for the European and World Championships in 2026. Usually, they are a slightly chilly affair with a whole heap of boats that provides great domestic racing, something the British are really lucky to have with such depth and quality in the fleet. The first weekend was unbelievably cold with the wind chill making it -2 degrees and pretty windy. I’m not sure I quite adapted to the freeze and found myself racing purely trying to stay alive, finishing 4th, but I was blown away by the fleet size of 96! 300 people overall chose to come and race in March in negative temperatures, they can’t say sailing isn’t a popular sport! The next week in comparison was glamour sailing, a tropical 12 degrees, some smaller waves and racing in the bay. To monitor fatigue and ensure prep was heading correctly into the more important Grand Slam, my team and I made the decision to race only the first day of the Open and I was happy enough to retire at 1st overall – perfect preparation for Palma.
Grand Slam Trofeo Princess Sofía
Anticipation has certainly been building for the first event in the LA 2028 Olympic cycle, and I really couldn’t wait to be on the start line for the 10 races that build the series. The week is broken into two parts, qualification and finals with the results from the first four races providing an overall ranking. This time last year I finished the regatta in 57th place, in gold fleet but struggling. This year I qualified into gold fleet in 14th, after 3 top ten finishes at a World Cup, something I’ve never managed to achieve. This was a significant step forward and a real moment of wow, this winter has really flicked a switch and I’m able to compete and push at the very top level. However, the week wasn’t even halfway done so the pressure was really on to be able to keep racing hard. Final series resulted in some long days on the water as the wind struggled to stabilise and after eight hours and two races on the final day, I finished the regatta 15th/ 114 overall. This is a huge PB and I’m stoked to be able to post such an improvement in the first regatta of a long season. Having taken a few days to reflect on my progress, I really can’t wait to get racing again in Hyeres at the second Grand Slam of the year, luckily for me, we start racing on the 21st April so not long now!