International Class Association

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My name is Sigrid Beckman from Sweden where I compete and race for two Sailing Clubs.

Lerums Sailing Association, LESS, as well as Ljungskile Sailing Association which hosted the Worlds in 2019.

In October I got the opportunity to charter a boat for the Worlds in South Africa after participating in the Danish Nationals. The Danish Nationals was the first time I competed with the Pro sail.  Although I am still a beginner with this rig, I am not when it comes to the Tera Class as I have been to the worlds twice before in the Sport Class.

 To decide to go to South Africa meant I had to change my practice season around.  We had planned for a winter break, after a very intense year with the Worlds in Sweden, but I now have to train. Practicing in Sweden during winter is quite a challenge! My fellow club members are all waiting for the spring. However if it is due to global warming or not is hard to say, but there has been no ice on the lake this year which has made it possible to train on the water.  This doesn’t mean that it is hot, there has been both snow and hail during the solo sessions on lake Aspen in Lerum. During winter training a drysuit is a must as well as rubbergloves and a lot of warm clothing.  Usually we can spend no longer than 1-1.5 hour on the water. I had planned to go to the Danish ‘Coldcamp’ to get some Tera practice and hang out with the Danish Tera Contingent but sadly this was cancelled.

 In Sweden just as in America, parents tell their children that, if you dig a hole you will come out in China. This is not true, South Africa is not the antipode to Sweden but still very far away, a 20 hour flight. However we only have one hour time difference. In the future it would be fun to sail the Swedish antipode as well.

The weather map shows where we live in Gothenburg, right under the snow and traffic warning.