Miss Meliss…

Welcome to my Blog….if anyone ever visits hehe

First things first…what a great opportunity this is..to the team at livesaildie.com, thanks for creating a place where sailors can have their own piece of the world wide web.

Now, maybe I should introduce myself for those who visit this blog…probably no-one!

My name is Mel, I am a 19 year old uni student from Brisbane, Australia.

I have only been sailing for 5 years but have found sailing to be more than a sport, but rather a lifestyle. I am not the best sailor in the fleet, but if enjoyment was a competition I’d win every time. I learnt to sail after an early end to a competitive netball career due to injury. I started sailing at 14, learning to sail at PCSC in a club sabot. Six months later, after showing interest, my Dad bought me my first boat, an older wooden sabot called Woodstock. Although Woodstock was an older boat, it was built by Ces Lea, who was a master of sabot building. At the end of the season, and after winning my novice division club championship, my Dad bought me a much better boat. Intrinsic was a 2 year old dinghy sports boat with all the go-fast gear ad georgous red blades :). It took me a while to get the hang of the new boat, but I finally found success and enjoyment by the end of the season. In my first big regatta in intrinsic, the bay titles, i finished 10th behind the best sailors in the state, my next regatta (the CQ titles), I won. By this time, after only 2 years sailing, I was deemed as “too old” to sail sabots anymore, despite being the perfect size and weight.

After much consideration, my Dad decided to sell Intrinisc (however hard it was) and buy my sister and myself a 420 to sail together. We ended up with “No Direction”, a 6 year old 420, which had been well looked after and done very well in national regattas. Having only sailed for 2 years, stepping up into a 420 was and still is, a huge learning curve. Dad was great, teaching us about 3-sail boats and we also have had great coaching from Dave, Ben and Marty. We often struggle along, being 20 plus kg too light for the boat.

One and a half seasons later (early 2005), I left PCSC as I moved to Brisbane to start University…leaving my 420 at home indefinately or until we settled into university life and lving away from home. I didn’t sail for almost 6 months (pure torture) and it wasn’t until the annual Bundaberg camp, that I convinced Dad to bring the 420 to, that we got to sail again…and my god did it feel good! It almost felt like I had been sailing the whole time…Marty convinced us that we had to get the boat to brisbane, no matter what!

So after a bit of organising we got the boat to Brisbane and we joined RQYS at Manly…we are very busy with uni study and part-time work, trying to sail as much as we can, which hasn’t been as much as I would like The 420 is an uphill stuggle for us..with lots of tears and still a lot of good times. We sailed in Sail Brisbane…which was my first major regatta (hard to believe, I’ve never had the chance to compete in a state/national regatta), it was a whole lot of fun..we aimed to finish every race, which was a realistic goal given our sailing time for the year. We almost achieved it, sailing every race (even winning one), except the last race which blew in at 25 knots.

Since then, I havent had a lot of time to sail, spending a month in Townsville and settling into a new job and new responsibilties at work, all while doing 4 subjects at University. During the past 8 moths since joining RQ I have come to the realisation that, while i love the 420, it maybe isnt the best option for me and my sister…it is a big boat with waay too many ropes,heavy masts, etc and without Dad here to help us rig, it is often a frustrating exercise and sometimes limits my enjoyment. Another factor is the lack of a 420 fleet in Qld. There is a huge fleet of Lasers: Full, Radial and 4.7, with some of the best laser sailors in the country and the world. The 4.7 would be ideal for me, much more managable rigging wise (and time wise) and also a more realistic sail area for me to control. Given these factors, I put the 420 on the market so I can re-invest in a moderate condition laser and a 4.7 rig..I am not sure how long it will take to sell the boat, given the lack of fleet size and interest in the class…Dad wont buy me a laser without selling the 420, which is understandable. I now have every second Saturday off work, and am saving up to buy myself an older laser. Study time permitting hopefully next season will be my chance to actually get back competitively into the sport i am insanely passionate about

Eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later…I would love to get into yachts and sportboats and sail the Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race. My dad has always sailed yachts and PCSC was predominately a yacht club. I have had a number of races on yachts there and a few out of of RQ here and there but I would love to be good enough to race in the 60th race in a few years.

I feel that my summarised history of my sailing life and my hopes and dreams is a great way to start my new blog..even if no one reads it..it feels great to see it all in words. I havent had any major sailing achievements such as national titles but I love the sport and am willingly to continue to learn and hopefully improve as long as possible. I cant imagine having a life without sailing, even its means letting it take a back seat until I finish my uni degree..

Love always,

Missmeliss