Unfortunatley I spoke too soon. The winds picked up and Michala’s knee could not take the pressure of being out in the trapeze and she suffered immense pain.

It was the last day of the women’s race with the waves and wind pounding against the boat, which took its toll on her newly operated knee. Luckily the boat capsized and the rib (rescue boat) came out to assist, as they could see they were having trouble righting the boat. In the Rib was Meagan Bursa, who sailed alongside the girls in Australia; she is a very strong and skilled skipper and they decided to replace her with Michala. So mid sea, they changed clothes with each other and only lost out on one race and were placed 2nd on each of these races, which was fantastic. However (and yes there is always a however with these two)….. The racing rules state that you have to inform the jury boat of any changes so Michala raced to the jury boat to inform them of the change. They would not accept that on the water so 1) she would have to race to shore and fill in an official form to apply for a new skipper but 2) as there was not time they decided to ignore the rule and worry about it later.

Yoanna and Megan raced together, having had no experience sailing together. Frankly, I was more worried Megan would be able to concentrate with the amount Yoanna speaks but they had a great race day. Once on shore again they had to register with the Jury office to see if they could complete the necessary paperwork and have it accepted. One of the formalities is that a new crew member may not exceed an additional 4.5 kilos than Michala, but so far so good. Then the jury found out that Megan was Australian (and yes this is a European Championship), so was this the end of a good day? Well, this was new territory for the Jury and they held up the prize giving ceremony (for the Womens championships) for 2 hours to decide what to do. They finally got the green light that all was ok. Megan was allowed to compete as it was a European Open race and therefore she was entitled to participate even if she came from Australia. The girls got 2nd place in the Women’s European (open) championships, hurray!!!