Unusual Rimini

I had the chance to sail the J70 in Rimini, and we were really looking forward to it after having a blast there last year under the sunny skies. But this time, things didn't quite go as planned. We got hit with a lot of rain and thunder, which put a damper on our expectations. Luckily, we still had some decent wind to work with.
Our sailing adventure had its ups and downs. The ups were when we managed to break into the top five at the top mark. It felt awesome being up there with the best. However, our excitement didn't last long because we made some stupid mistakes that cost us dearly. It's crazy how competitive the J70 class is compared to other classes. One small slip-up and you can kiss goodbye to ten precious positions.
There's this one race that sticks out in my mind. We had an amazing start, leading the pack on the committee side. We made a smart move, caught a favorable shift, and held onto our lead all the way to the top mark. But then at the gate we accidentally grazed the mark while sitting in second place. We had to do a frustrating 360-degree penalty turn, and our upwind sailing afterward was far from stellar. We ended up finishing a disappointing 18th in that race. It was super frustrating, to say the least.
Despite the setbacks, though, I had a blast sailing in Rimini. It's always a learning experience, and I definitely learned a lot from this trip.