J70 Mixed+ Championships 2022 sees more female competitors than male

Mixed Championship 2022 © Oakcliff Sailing

Five Oakcliff sailors were in St. Petersburg competing in the J70 Mixed+ Championships thanks to Sail22's, Ed Furry, who lent us his J70!

The learning curve was steep and never stopped. Luke Galvin, Molly Roy, Carter Miller, Allie Shand and Kate Schaner have all been at Oakcliff but not at the same time, and none had sailed a J70 before.

This event was extra special due to the fact that there were more female competitors than male. The rule states that 50% or more of your crew has to be female. Added to this, there were all-female debriefs everyday, where the women came together to talk about the day's racing and then have a little social afterwards.

The teams were lucky enough to have sailed with the new Vakaros Atlas 2, which accurately recorded every move, and made debriefs very detailed. Using the data stored on each boat's Atlas 2 and essentially re-playing the race, gave them a spectator's view of racing.

While the debriefs provided exceptional coaching and tips, our team was also lucky to have Kate Shaner on board to do some hands-on coaching. She has coached here, as well as sailed for Tufts, and was a technical consultant on the Top Gun movie. #Jealous

This was an exceptional experience for our young team. They thoroughly enjoyed the regatta, not only the social aspect of it, but more importantly, they came back fully energized, reporting it was one of the greatest learning experiences they have had.