Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Subject: Ending the Europe Trip! Coming home!


Hello Hello!!

I am just in Amsterdam right now, waiting for my
flight tomorrow to finally make it back home.

I know I haven't written in a long time and a lot
has happened since the Holland Regatta. where to
start?! The Holland Regatta was a rough event for me.
I didn't even make the gold fleet. I sailed well for
the first two days, but on the third day, I managed to
choke and lose enough places to end up in the silver
fleet. I found myself not caring for a lot of the
event. Looking back right after the event, I realised
that I had sort of burnt myself out. I had "lost my
mojo" for sailing at that point. I arrived in Europe
in the middle of april and I was going full on, racing
the whole time all the way up to and including the
Holland Regatta. I was very tired and I had put a lot
of pressure on myself to do well at that event. I'd
have to say that plan blew up in my face a little!

After the Holland Regatta, I stayed in Medemblik for
2 weeks. I took the first week I was there off
completely. Normally I hate to 'waste' time over here
like that, but it was well needed. Certainly not a
waste as I have learned the hard way that time off is
just as important as time on! I got back training
after a week's rest and I was feeling good again.
Still not 100%, but a lot better! On the 13th of June
we headed off to Kiel and trained there for a week
before racing started there. The training there was
pretty good for the first few days, but then it got
real hot and sunny which means no wind for that area.
Even with very light winds, we managed to get in a lot
of races, and I ended up 30th overall. Not a great
result overall, but I had some really good light wind
races, which for me is a little extra special. Light
stuff isn't my specialty!

Its going to be strange to be back in Canada again
after being here for so long, but I am really looking
forward to doing some coaching and some sailing at
home. I know in about a week's time I will be having
Europe withdrawls!! But it happens every time! The
next two months, I will be coaching for the Alberta
Sailing Team. My plans for that time include some
serious time in the gym and I will get out on the
water whenever I can with my sailors. It will be good
to have a little down time though. I have some plans
for a website that I would like to make, and hopefully
I can get that going in the meantime as well. I do
not know how, or any of those details yet. If any of
you have some advice, or some skills that you are
willing to lend, please let me know!

I do have some exciting news! I have managed to get
my very first sponsor onboard for my campaign. A
sailing gear company from Australia called Zhik is now
sponsoring me. you will all see me wearing the gear
when I'm back home! The gear is very high quality and
all the top people are asking for it over here in
europe! You can check out my profile on the team page
of the zhik website. www.zhik.com

The other cool thing to let you know is that even
with some not-so-hot results here at the Holland
Regatta I am still ranked number 1 in the world!! I am
not sure when the next ranking will come out, but
after Kiel I should still be up there. Yay! It is
very exciting, and I am happy to be there. I do have
heaps of work to do to stay there, but it is
motivating me to try and keep this ranking as long as
possible.

Take care and I'll see a lot of you shortly!
ciao
~~Keamia~~