An update from Charlotte Webster on her recent sailing endeavours. Recently competing at US open Sailing Series in Clearwater Florida and qualified the Cayman Islands for the PanAmerican Games!
Hello! I just thought I should update you all regarding my sailing endeavours. I recently competed at US open Sailing Series in Clearwater Florida and qualified the Cayman Islands for the PanAmerican Games taking place later this year, at the beginning of the month.
Charlotte Webster has secured a qualifying place for the Cayman Islands at the XIX Pan American Games to be held in Satiago, Chile in October this year. 5 places were on offer at the 2023 US Open Sailing Series event in Clearwater, Florida, and Olympic Class regatta held last week. Charlotte held off the competition and qualified alongside USA, Peru, Guatemala, and Venezuela in tricky racing conditions on the Gulf Coast.
After flying in from her studies at the University of Exeter in the UK, Charlotte had 2 days of very light air training with her coach Juan Mazzini to prepare for the regatta. Day 1 of the 4-day event saw the fleet of 65 ILCA 6 dinghies (formerly known as Laser Radial) tow out to the start only to be enveloped in a thick fog making it too dangerous to race. Day 2 saw the arrival of a predicted weather front bringing 25 knot winds gusting to 30 knots. Again, the race committee determined that the conditions in the channel and on the racecourse were too treacherous to risk sending any boats out.
On Day 3 a fresh North-Easterly breeze saw hard racing conditions with 4 races sailed. Charlotte was able to put in performances putting her a third of the way up the fleet. With more encouragement from Coach Juan on the final day Charlotte showed more of what she is capable of by rounding the first mark in 8th place and scoring a regatta-best finish of 22nd out of 65.
A delighted Charlotte said, "I would like to say a huge thank you to my parents, friends & family and my coach for supporting my sailing goals and trainings. I would also like to thank the Cayman Islands Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage, the Cayman Islands Sailing Club and National Sailing Centre, the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee, and the Exeter and Falmouth Students Union for their encouragement and support."
Charlotte is now preparing for the French Olympic Class Regatta in April, the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador and the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague. The Sailing World Championships and Pan Am Games are both Olympic qualifying events for Paris 2024.
