The Tasar National Championships are done for yet another year and we managed to hold on! This was my fifteenth Tasar nationals… my first as skipper. We were the defending champions, and in reversed roles reached our goal of cracking the top ten! We finished the regatta off on the last day with an 8 and a 5 in very tricky, and at times very windy conditions. We could have done better, having glimmers of cracking top three and two in both races, even despite questioning my own abilities on the way to the start, which just shows how much we improved and can still improve in reversed positions.
Congratulations to Craig McPhee and Gill Berry for their victory, and also to Rick Longbottom and Nick Grey, and Aaron Linton and Jamie Jocheim who also cracked the podium. The racing was so tight between the three of them on the last two days! The way it should be!
Dad and I are both very happy considering firstly how incredibly tough the racing was, and the calibre of the other competitors, shown in the up and down nature of the full results. Secondly, due to my injury, and the uncharacteristic weather conditions in Darwin, resulting in multiple breezy days. We managed to finish third in the Masters division, and second in the Ladies.
Very much missing Darwin and the Tasar crowd already and looking forward to the next Nationals at Victor Harbour! Who knows whether I will be crewing or skippering, but great to know that we can crack the top ten in either combination! Check out the promotional video for Victor, or my own Tasar video – I keep watching it to get my fix today!
Thanks to our training partners, Hugh Tait and Sophie Holt, who finished just behind us with an awesome end to their regatta, and to our coach Simon Reffold. I can’t thank my family for their support enough over the regatta, and also everyone at home for their messages of support! Master crew, is definitely the master coach as well – thank you so much for giving me a turn, and for taking the time to understand what it is like to be at the other end of the boat!
Next up, heading to the snow for some adventures over August before getting stuck into the sailing come September. Only way to avoid the cold is to ski! Also getting so excited to cheer all the Aussies on for the games starting in a few days, especially the sailors! The planning and preparation has been fantastic for the entire team, so here’s to plenty of the Aussies cracking the podium! My social media pages will have plenty of updates if you want to get involved, and no doubt the Australian Sailing Team website will also have plenty of information! Go Aussies!
