Olympic Games

A day that left me with the right feeling for tomorrow. We had the practice race today and we found out when we got to the windward mark that we had been OCS with a couple of others. But that did not bother me as we had just sailed one of our best light air windward legs ever. The left was favored because of a 20 degree shift that way but we managed to come out of the middle-right and round second.

It was blowing 3-4 knots when the committee gave us the start. The crews were hiking to leeward. We had done a complete rig check this morning and I made a couple of subtle adjustments there that I felt good about. Then out on the water, I made another change for the extremely light air which seemed to work well. It wasn’t a new discovery as we had done it before, but it was nice to make the adjustment with confidence and then see it work.

So when we got to the windward make in second place I was very happy with the big picture.

As it was so light about a third of the fleet quit the race at that point anyway and most quit after the second windward leg opting for getting out of the heat before the battle starts. It did make me think about how bad an OCS would feel in a real race, so it was a good reminder.

We got a tow from the Canadian Coach, a great Star sailor in his own right, Mark Pickle of Germany. Good sportsmanship is still a hallmark of the Star Class. Once ashore, I fulfilled a few press requests, (good to get out of the way early), and then went to see Scott Weiss, USOC trainer, for a bit of therapy on my elbow and now home making my notes and resting.

My thoughts on the eve of my first Olympics; I am honored to be representing my country, I am personally very happy to have the opportunity to race for a gold medal, and it has been a fantastic journey back to my roots…where I developed the talent that has given me a great career in the sport of sailing. Some of us have well known names in the sport of sailing but that doesn’t mean were are still the best sailors. I am checking in to find out where I rank amongst the best. Could be humbling, could be exhilarating. No matter what, the journey has been fantastic.

Thanks for your interest in what Phil and I are doing.