The 3rd edition of the Caribbean Meeting was a fantastic experience and a great week of sailing. The clinic had the participation of high level sailors and coaches, and everyone worked really hard to make the training a compelte success.

 

Among the international sailors we had 1st & 2nd place at the last North Americans, as well as the top girl. We also had the team racing US National champion, so the level of the clinic was really good.

 

The venue was just perfect for this practice: we stayed at 3 houses by the sea, with the boats right in our garden. In addition, the conditions in Salinas, Puerto Rico, are always good: we had everything between 10 and 20 kts, clear skies and lots of sun.

 

The clinic lasted 4 days. We focused on different subjects each day, such as boat handling, starts and tactics, and the last day we did Team Racing. With days of 6 to 7 hours on the water, plus meetings before and after sailing and watching the video in the nights, I am sure everyone could learn a lot of new tricks to improve their performance. 

 

The 5th day, was a very special day. We did a 20 mile downwind and reaching practice, from Salinas to Ponce, in the south of Puerto Rico. Probably an unforgetable experience for everyone who was there. We divided the expedition in 2 legs. We had 1 hour stop over at the dessert island of Berbería, where we had lunch, went for a swim and a little rest. By the time we started the 2nd leg of the journey, wind was blowing 16-18 kts, and it was the higlight of the day. The boats were flying over the water and the scenerio was beautiful. After 6 hours of leaving Salinas we got to Ponce.

 

 

These kind of training is very good to practice a lot of fleet racing, and also to learn from other sailors as you watch them on the water, and share with them a lot of time. We also had the chance to test the new Olimpic Sail (and they are really fast!!!) and learn a lot from their representative Xandi Paradeda.

 

Thanks very much to coaches Manny, Eric and Jato for your great effort, thank you very much to Malenita for feeding us every day, and special thanks to Pirul and Andrés for making it possible and inviting us to such a great sailing spot!!!

 

Next clinic is first week of February. Check the web for more info!!!!