The past 12 months have been pretty busy for Alexander.  He again qualified for the Victorian Sailing Team, the 2015/16 season being his 3^rd time round.

July saw us make the trek to the Royal Qld Yacht Squadron for QLD Youth Week.  The winds were light and shifty, and with the new qualification criteria for the Australian Youth Team, there were a lot of sailors there.    The Laser Radials had 47 entries from around Australia.  Alexander sailed fairly consistently with only 1 race finish being outside the top 18.  He ended up with 3 top 10 finishes, second Victorian, and 13^th place overall.  An excellent result, considering the quality of his fellow sailors.

There was a lot of training on during the year, as well as studying towards his VCE.

The next trek we made was to NSW, back to Georges River 16 footers Sailing Club for the NSW Youth Championships in October.  There were 24 entries in the Radial fleet, with another light wind regatta on our hands, and one day of no wind whatsoever!  Alexander sailed consistently and finished up 10^th overall.

Year 12 exams were next on the agenda, and once these were out of the way, Alexander started to refocus on his Nationals preparation.

Sail Melbourne results were not where Alexander wanted to be – the weather threw everything at the sailors.  Out of 33 sailors, Alexander finished 20^th.

3 days later Alexander and 2 mates hit the Hume Highway and headed to Sydney for the Sail Sydney regatta.  There were 42 entries in the Laser Radials, and some tough racing – some interstaters learning the hard way that you must give way to the ferries!  Alexander’s best race result was a 3^rd placing in the 5^th race, and he finished 17^th overall. 

We then headed further north to the Belmont 16’s for the Laser Nationals.  Alexander has decided he never wants to sail on Lake Macquarie again!  Not a happy hunting ground, especially after some good results leading up the to the regatta.

There were 92 entries overall in the Laser Radials.  Alexander’s best result was a 17^th in race 3.. He did sail well enough to make it through to Gold Fleet (the top half), however did not perform to his expectations.

After a month off sailing, Alexander got back into training, and long weekend in March competed at the Laser States at Somers Yacht Club.  He ended up with 3 top 10 finishes again (best being a 3^rd place) out of a fleet of 37 entries, and finished 9^th overall.

Next was the Victorian Youth States over at Mornington Yacht Club.  YV have extended the Youth age on some classes to allow the older kids to still compete.

Alexander finished 5^th overall out of 16 entries.

Alexander has been training 2 nights per week with former Olympic Coach Adrian Finglas, as well as still being part of the Laser High Performance Team.

His next adventure will take him to Dun Laoghaire in Ireland, where he has been accepted to compete in the Laser Radial Mens World Titles.

And no, there will be no parents travelling along with him on this trip.

So, it has been a pretty busy year for Alexander, and another busy year in front of him.