Happy holidays from NB 470! We are "home" for the holidays, and have clocked in a lot of time on the water this month together with the growing domestic 470 fleet in Miami, FL. We took part in a series of camps run by the US Sailing Team throughout December.
Our days looked like this:
7:45 AM Gym session together with the USST at Train8Nine
8:45 AM Team breakfast
10:00 AM Presentations from various experts in the sport
12:00 PM 470 class briefing
12:45 PM On the water training
5:00 PM More presentations
6:00 PM Team dinner
In short… some very full-on days! It was such a great opportunity for us to make closer connections within the US team – other athletes, coaches, and partners – people we work alongside with much of the time, but it’s not often we get the chance to sit down and get to these people on a personal level. There are many athletes competing in different Olympic sailing classes, all with differing schedules and training plans, but we are all training under the US flag with the same goal in mind. This month we really felt like a team, and we are proud to be a part of it.
We had some stellar days on the water this month. We were sailing out of Miami Yacht Club and so we got to train out in the ocean with big waves and better breeze than you see in Biscayne Bay. We had a lot of new faces joining us throughout this month as domestic training is grounds for new budding 470 sailors. A big thank you to our coach Yevgeniy Burmatnov for taking everyone on and making the most of our time out on the water. It’s not easy towing 30 minutes each way out and back from the ocean each day, much less corralling everyone together in the big waves! Thank you!
The biggest highlight of this camp was getting to hear presentations from some of our idols in the sport. A big one for me personally was getting to hear from Robert Scheidt, someone I’ve looked up to my entire sailing career, talk about his experience across 5 different Olympic campaigns. There is so much that goes into running a successful and sustainable Olympic campaign, and Robert’s presentations this week were really insightful to bettering our team’s process and approach to campaigning. We also got to hear from several other legends like Bruno Prada, Augie Diaz, and our own US Sailing Team executive director, Paul Cayard, to name a few.
Overall it was great to be able to put some productive hours in this month on domestic waters. We are continuing to make progress on our goals while helping support the domestic 470 fleet and grow the class. It’s such a good feeling to help out new younger teams, as it wasn't long ago we were in their shoes. It feels full circle.
In the new year we plan to continue training in Miami. We have the US Open series coming up, two separate events -- one in Miami, and one in Clearwater. These two events will act as a qualifying series for the upcoming Olympic Test event (Marseille in July) and the combined Worlds (The Hague in August) and mark the beginning of the US Olympic Trials. These events are both avenues for us to potentially qualify ourselves and the country to the Paris 2024 Olympics!
Upcoming events:
Jan 13 - 15 - Miami US Open Series, Miami, FL
Feb 2 - 5 - Clearwater US Open Series, Clearwater, FL
We have a big year ahead of us. 2023 is the year to see our hard work come to fruition and make our dreams come true. Looking back on 2022 we are really proud of all the progress we have made as a team. We are logged significant hours on the water this year around the world, representing the United States in competition in Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, and Israel. We could not do this alone, and we are eternally grateful to all of those who help us on this journey.
A lot of thank you's are due, and to start it off we would like to thank the Windmark Sailing Foundation for their generosity and continued support of our team. There are a lot of costs that come with sailing at an Olympic level, and without Windmark's support we would not be able to put in as many hours on the water as we do. Thank you! We'd also like to thank the US Sailing Team and their network of coaches and support staff that keep us race ready. Finally a thank you to our friends, family, and fans who keep up with us on our journey! The kind messages of support make all the difference.
If you'd like to make a contribution to our campaign this holiday season, click here! We are currently fundraising to help cover costs for our winter expenses. We love training in Florida, but unfortunately Miami training comes with the heavy cost of Miami housing! Any and all donations are very much appreciated!
We wish you a happy holidays, and hope to see you soon on the water in the New Year!
Photos: Allison Chenard & the US Sailing Team
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