Last week I was training on the 49er with my crewmate, Philip, down in sunny Imperia. The weather looked perfect, but the conditions were anything but easy. A strong Mistral had kicked up big, messy waves, and keeping the boat under control felt like riding a wild horse.
The wind itself wasn’t crazy, but the waves made the whole session feel more like a roller coaster than normal sailing. Still, it was a lot of fun, and we learned a ton from it. By the end of the weekend, we could really feel the difference in our handling. Our coach, Agostino, summed it up perfectly: “One day in these conditions is like a week of training on calm Lake Garda.” And honestly, he wasn’t wrong.
On Sunday we packed the boat onto the trailer and got ready for the long drive back to Zurich. Since I don’t have a driver’s license, Philip had to take the wheel for the entire eleven hours. We left at 6 PM and arrived at around 5:30 in the morning, which meant basically no sleep before school. Focusing in class that day was… not easy.
All in all, though, it was an amazing experience, and we’re really excited to build on what we learned—next stop, the beautiful Lake Como.
And huge props to Philip for being an absolute machine and driving the whole way. Sometimes I genuinely don’t know how he pulls it off.
SIMONSAILS 