O, Canada!

The Canadian team, Maddie Gillis and Galen Richardson, put together an intense camp to kick off our summer of domestic training. With enthusiastic support from Sail Nova Scotia and Sail Canada, they were greenlighted to invite us up to Halifax, Maddie’s hometown. We asked João to do a quick turnaround after his return from Greece and join us in Nova Scotia, too. 

After a week at home, Lindsay drove to meet Carson in Maine, where the US boat was waiting for its trip up north. The next day, we hooked up the trailer to Carson’s trusty Yukon and got rolling through the woods towards the Canadian border. It was a long but scenic drive with blue sky and lots of pine trees. We pulled up to St Margaret Sailing Club to drop off the trailer before finishing our day at Maddie’s house, where her dad had prepared dinner on the grill and local mussels. 

In the mornings, we had the privilege of using the Canadian Sports Institute Atlantic facilities for gym sessions. Reserved for high-performance athletes and members of Team Canada, Maddie worked behind the scenes to get special permission for us to come in. In the all red and white facility, we were out of place in our blue USA workout shirts, but our Canadian hosts were happy to have us. Lindsay worked on mobility and balance to prep for sailing while Carson enjoyed loading up the weight and working his way through much of the equipment. 

After mornings in the gym, the crew would drive over to St Margaret's Bay to camp out for the whole day. Some days we were treated to ready-to-sail conditions as soon as we rigged, but others were warm and calm and drifty. Determined to make every day count, both teams filled the windless hours with boatwork or video review until the wind filtered in across the bay in the late afternoon. In total, we sailed nine days straight, focusing on matching our boats and building off each team’s strengths. Without the pressure of preparing for a competition, we got creative to learn from each other - one day, we swapped boats and tried out the Canadian Nacra to see if it felt different from ours. On another day, we swapped crews to see the difference in boat feel, sailing style, and communications. Maddie and Galen brought out members of their support team like their trainer, their nutritionist, a local drone pilot, and their data analyst, all to get a feel for the full Nacra 17 experience and help build our knowledge. 

Mast bend testing in Canada

Training like this is fatiguing. Sometimes your head hurts as much as your body after a day of trimming and tacking, puzzling and analyzing. The upside is you can learn so much in a compact period, and it was nice to be among teammates and friends who bring a tough day on the water into context. At the end of a long day, Lindsay and Maddie watched summer drama shows on Netflix while Galen and João kicked back with their host, Gavin. Towards the end of our block, we all were delighted to BBQ on Gavin’s stunning patio overlooking St Margaret's Bay. Every steak that night was well-earned! 

We left Nova Scotia to recover for the week of Fourth of July (or in Lindsay’s case, to sail BACK to Halifax with her parents on the Marblehead Halifax Ocean Race). Lindsay hitched a ride down to Maine with the Canadians to set up training for July in Carson’s home waters of Mount Desert Island. Carson’s local sailing community was very supportive of our training. One family lent their awesome T-top RIB to use as a tender out to the floating dock, where we nestled our 2 Nacras next to the junior sailing programs from The Northeast Harbor Fleet and MDI Community Sailing. Carson enjoyed sharing the foiling experience with friends and local sailors throughout our time in Maine. We even made the paper when a local drone pilot and writer caught wind of our training sessions. 

Maine training balanced fog, tricky shifty winds, and dodging lobsters pots. After the long lineups in St Margaret's Bay, João directed us to work on maneuvers, which was a perfect fit for the conditions in Maine. On one intensely foggy day, Carson towed our Nacras into Somes Sound and we made one rule for the day: tack when you see land, or each other. In the skinny slotted waterway, we tacked and gybed at a continuous clip. 

Flying above the crisp cold water, the views of Maine are captivating once the fog lifts. The stately mountains of MDI and wooded islands are picturesque, made more so by the plethora of classic vessels enjoying the summer breeze amongst the multi-hued lobster pots. As a carbon-masted, doubled-hulled catamaran darting along at 20 knots, we stand out from the landscape, but the contrast suits the scene, and the boat feels right at home. 

To end our summer in the northeast, Carson and Lindsay headed down for a quick stopover in Stonington, Connecticut, Lindsay’s hometown. It was the first time that the Nacra had gone to Stonington across our two campaigns, so after two years, Lindsay’s family finally got to see her sail! Although the conditions were typical for August in Fishers Island Sound (light seabreeze, way too much seaweed), we were able to showcase some foiling. Carson gamely took both her parents and her sister out for spin around the harbor. On Lindsay’s 30th birthday, we hosted a waterfront fundraiser to show her Stonington supporters the boat up close. The next day we buzzed the junior sailors racing The Dinghy Race in their 420s before Lindsay stopped by to inspire them with her story of racing, starting from right where they were sitting up to the Olympic classes!

Happy 30th Lindsay!

Thanks to all of our friends, home clubs, and supporters that lent a hand to make our domestic training block a success. It is fun to share a slice of our global journey with you and bring it back to where it all started. We are ready to link back up with the European fleet and train on our European equipment, but this summer confirmed, there really is no place like home!