New challenges bring learning, fun, joy

by Kim Couranz, SpinSheet
It’s great to work hard, figure things out, and find success. Imagine, you’ve sailed in the same class for a while, and you know the boat and the fleet well. At most regattas, you end up on the podium. How delightful and predictable: Keep sailing the same class, at the same events each year, and keep ending up doing well and feeling quite good about it.

But what if the hard work, process of figuring things out, and moving up a steep learning curve, rather than the results on a scoresheet, are a big part of what brings you joy? With the right mindset, moving from predictable to new challenges can be fun and rewarding.

Olympic medalist Lijia “Lily” Xu recently made such a move. While her outstanding career in the Laser Radial (now ILCA 6) included Olympic gold (London 2012) and bronze (Qingdao 2008) medals and a world championship win, she retired from Olympic sailing and looked for other ways to continue sailing. Lily recently stepped into match racing. It’s a big change from singlehanded fleet racing to match racing with a team. – Full report