Thursday, March 31, 2011

Jen back from coaching

Jen here,

Erin has been busy coaching here in Victoria with the Prairie Region Cadets and I was with the Royal Vic 29er team down in San Diego last week. I must admit that it was wonderful to get into some warmer weather and water...even though the folks down in San Diego found it pretty cold and thought that I was the "crazy Canadian girl with the flip flops on."
The 29er Mid Winters West spanned three days and we included an extra day of training.  Jess Round and Erin Berry as well as 29er rookies Sophie Papp and Maddy Innes made up "Team Girl Squad" for the weekend.  With up to five races a day there was plenty of action, and some excellent crash and burns to be seen on the race course.  Even the top teams were exhausted after five races on Saturday, but non more so I think than our intrepid Maddy and Sophie.   A big kudos to the girls for toughing out the regatta and pushing themselves harder than I think they even thought that they could push.  In fact, they both learned about just how physically demanding a day of racing can be especially if you get behind on eating and hydrating.  Next time you see the girls on the dock, just ask them about the tow back in on Saturday when they were both as sick as dogs.  We've ALL been there girls!
Thanks too to Jess and Erin for sharing their knowledge and experience, and proving to be great training partners.   It's always so much better when you have a solid set of training partners to tune up with each day, and to debrief with at the end of each day.  Way to go girls on a great regatta!

Thanks too to our billets, the Stewards. The Stewards are possibly the hippest and coolest family in Southern California...and that's saying a lot!  Amy, mum and school teacher, is the kind of teacher that every kid wishes they ever had in school.  Dan'l, aka Dad, is a Navy Seal, and we're pretty sure that he's actually Chuck Norris...I think I saw him open a jar of jam with his mind.  D'Amy, daughter of Amy and Dan'l, is the most athletic thirteen year old I think I've ever met. After 29er sailing with Erin, D'amy is currently trying to figure out how to fit some skiff sailing into her Sabot, Laser Radial, 420, and swim schedules.  Thanks to the Steward family for their hospitality!

Jen

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