After finishing the spring Qualifiers (and thereby qualifying to represent the UK at the Radial Europeans in Nieuwpoort, Belgium, 12-19 July) I headed off to Holland for the Europa cup in Hoorn.

This is the first of four Europa cups. Later in June I shall be racing in Denmark and Austria before going to Germany in July. These three events will serve as my warm up for the Europeans. I also hope to finish top three in the overall series.

There were over one hundred entries for the regatta, but surprisingly I was the only Brit.  I felt completely at home however, as I knew so many of the sailors there and actually the Dutch probably speak better English than I do!

Overall it was a very difficult regatta, as demonstrated in the final race when I was winning by around 400 metres and a huge wind shift put me down into fourth place. However despite feeling somewhat frustrated I won the regatta even though I never won a race. The key was consistency. Every race I counted was in the top five, and I was the only person to do this.

The first race was sailed in extremely light winds but the rest of the regatta was held in hiking conditions so it was extremely good fitness work. It also enabled me to double the number of races that I have done this year!

Straight after Hoorn I drove up to Medemblik (about 25 minutes up the road) for the Dutch international regatta, this year sponsored by Delta Lloyd. I am racing this event in a Tornado, so after just one day’s rest it will be all go again.