What happened since August?
Well you might ask. I wish I knew.
Certainly, as far as racing is concerned, it has been a non-productive time.
Since Poole, I seem to have taken my foot off the gas. As a result, I'm now at the back of the fleet again.
To be fair, September/October/November were taken up with quite a bit of training. Part of that involved running an RYA Level 1/2 course on behalf of the club. Then I attended a Senior Instructor Course run on behalf of the RYA at Queen Mary Sailing Club. So I am now a fully qualified Senior Dinghy Instructor - I just need to learn to sail a bit faster.
Had a great sail with Hannah today - we were back of the fleet, unfortunately, in fairly quiet winds.
At times like this, when you are at your lowest ebb as far as confidence is concerned, you need to find something - anything - that will help you get back into "the groove" and find that level of confidence and instinctive sailing behaviour that will bring you back to the front of the fleet. I've not yet found that.
Hannah was great - it's so amazing to see someone who has picked up sailing so instinctively. She has all the makings of a top-notch help and crew.
Her advice: don't think about it too much! Good advice, in my opinion, so I'll close off this blog and then look forward to the next couple of races. We are doing the WHSA Persuit Race tomorrow, and then the "Bloody Mary" again next weekend - here's hoping for that ingredient that will get us back into the groove!
