The last thing I posted here on the blog about my small boat sailing was Kiel Week 2023 in the Nacra 17. After that, Anton and I determined that we did not want to continue sailing together and I took some time off with my mum to reflect and figure out what I wanted to do next. My mum and I did a little cruise with her boat which was an interesting experience for me since the top speed of her boat is only 3kts. It was literally what we call „Entschleunigung“ in German, or simply „slowing down“ in English.
On this trip I met Ravi Parent who became famous in 2019 for this video of a spectacular crash in the Nacra 17 and who is the only sailor to win the F18 Europeans, F18 World Championship and A-Class World Championship all in the same year. Luckily I had also recently pulled a stunt like that on the Nacra 17 so I was able to impress him a little too (You can find the video here). 😉 And if you have followed Ravi’s or my Instagram lately you will have found that we don’t only spend as much time together as possible, but are also sailing the F18 as a mixed team. If we had the same nationality we’d consider doing an Olympic campaign in the Nacra 17 together.
Sailing the F18 has definitely been a steep learning curve for me and sailing as a couple is an even steeper learning curve for both of us. We spent the Winter in Ravi’s home venue Sarasota, sailing 4 days a week and even ran a little training Camp with his F18 friends. In May we took part in the French Nationals which wasn’t a success for us but a big first measurement of where we stand as a team.
And yes, we are just like any other couple, so of course there were some conflicts on the water… Sailing with your boyfriend is certainly not easy – even when you’re not in love, sailing in a mixed team is certainly a challenge. But when you push through the arguments and find a solution together it is also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life.
I have recently learned that there are not many (if any!) sports where men and women compete together and are literally in the same boat. So I have gained a lot of respect for myself, Ravi, and all the other Mixed teams in the Nacra 17 and the F18 that battle it out together on the race course. Sailing might just be the perfect activity to promote and facilitate diversity in any team.
But back to my journey. After the French Nationals we did a week of training in Valencia with the aim to compete in the Spanish Nationals at the end. Conditions were great and the hospitality of the Spanish Catamaran sailors was outstanding. We had some good sessions with Lucas Gonzales Smith and his crew and finished off the training week with a 4 boat training session on the day before the regatta. It was quite a wavy day – classic for Valencia – but only 10-15kts. As a lighter team we are naturally not as fast as the heavier teams but we were still able to keep up with them that day. With the regatta starting the next day we kept the session at under 2hrs.
When we were back at the ramp I hopped off the boat and held it steady and Ravi was pulling up the rudders and pull out the daggerboards. Suddenly I saw him laying on the boat in pain and it was quickly obvious that he wasn’t going to be able to get off the boat without help. Beto, one of the Spanish sailors drove him to a nearby hospital while I derigged the boat. Over the next few days we had two more hospital visits and instead of racing we learned that Ravi’s meniscus was torn. It was clear that he was not going to be able to compete at the F18 World Championship with me anymore…
segellena 