The 420 Midwinter Championship is arguably the most competitive 420 regatta on the circuit. Each year, teams from all over the country make their way to Jenson Beach, Florida over President’s Day weekend to battle it out. This is a particularly challenging event for teams from the north who have not been training on a consistent schedule. This year there were 92 teams at the championship. The Annapolis Yacht Club team of Nick Floyd and crew Lilli Salvesen found themselves on the podium in second place at the end of the tough three day event. Lilli was the top placing female and is our Sail1Designer of the Month. Congrats Lilli and Nick! Here is a brief interview with Lilli.
S1D: Where did you grow up sailing?
LS: I grew up sailing in Annapolis, Maryland. I have sailed out of Annapolis Yacht Club the entire time.
S1D: Who are your sailing role models?
LS: My sailing role model would probably be my high school coach Alana O’Rilley. I had to learn to skipper 420’s this fall so I could be the third skipper for the Annapolis High School team, and she has been encouraging me to keep skippering the entire time.
S1D: What is your training regimen like, how did you prepare for Midwinter’s since it is wintertime in Annapolis?
LS: I have a couple friends that like to frostbite on big boats, and a couple of my more extreme friends like to frostbite lasers, but I hate sailing in the cold so I stick to working out with Harry Legum at Annapolis Sailing Fitness.
S1D: How did you and Nick start sailing together?
LS: Nick asked me to sail with him for Orange Bowl. I was very excited for an opportunity to sail with someone new.
S1D: What came together at midwinter’s to get you guys on the podium?
LS: The great thing about sailing with Nick is that even though we are both short tempered we are quick to forget. If there was an incident on the water while we were sailing, by the time we had crossed the finish line we had forgotten what had made us angry. It also helped that we both know a lot about tactics. My goal as a crew is to never stop talking. If I see anything on the race course and I mean anything, I tell my skipper about it. This communication is very important because it allows nick to have a mental image of the race course in his head. This is a lot more information than most skippers have that enables nick to focus on boat speed and have more faith in the tactical advice that I give him during the race.
S1D: How did you and Nick prepare for each day of racing?
LS: A lot of sailors have a strict pre race routine, but Nick and I always felt better when we were more relaxed pre race. We would go out on the water adjust our settings according to the conditions. Then go upwind with one of our friends to make sure we felt fast. We would go find Alana and see what trends she was seeing on the water. After that we would wait in a spot where we could look upwind and joke around until the race committee went into sequence. Then we would check our upwind angle by rounding the race committee boat and start the race.
S1D: What are your goals for the upcoming sailing season?
LS: I am going off to college next year so I have to coach sailing so I will have spending money while I’m at school. I am planning on sailing youth champs with Nick. After our results at Midwinters, my goal is to win Youth Champs. There has also been discussion in the family about me skippering for my little brother, Nicholas Salvesen at the North Americans regatta at Brant Beach Yacht Club. He is 13 years old and just moving up from Optis. So I am excited for a chance to teach him how to crew. Hopefully there won’t be too much fighting!
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