A typical youth radial regatta in southern California has a boy to girl ratio of 4 to 1, but on February 14-16 I had any opportunity to sail in an all women fleet that included some of the best female radial sailors in the country. Hosted by Florida's Lauderdale Yacht Club, Radial Women's North Americans was only my second all women event. The tow out to the ocean was a new experience in itself, as we went under an impressive bridge that opened in the middle to let large ships through. Although the fleet was small, only fifteen boats, the level of competition was extremely high.

The first day of racing brought light to medium wind and chop. I started of with a ninth place finish, but in the next race I realized that the current was making the left really favored and I got fourth, which was my best finish of the regatta. I ended the day with a seventh place finish. The next two days brought fifteen plus knot winds, even more chop, and almost four mile courses. Racing was very close, with the back of the fleet finishing just a few minutes behind the winner after an hour long race. The first race on Sunday was an especially exciting finish for me. After being passed by the person who rounded the windward mark behind me on the first half of the run, I jibed onto port and passed the boat that had rounded ahead of me right at the finish line. I finished seventh, but only one second separated sixth and eighth. Paige Railey dominated the event, wining six out of eight races. I finished seventh and came home feeling that I was a better sailor.

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