Sailing Blog
Update from Cagliari… »
May 10, 2010
After a longer than usual flights to Europe that had to be diverted either North or South of their usual routes due to the ash cloud spreading from Iceland, the team has arrived into Cagliari (pronounced like Calgary without a “g”. I have been corrected on this many times already by a few team members who seem to think they have the Italian language mastered) and we are ready to get sailing. The next objective is to reach our target weight which will be a bit of a challenge with more weight to lose than usual and delicious food surrounding us, but it is clear we have all taken to filling the gaps out our stomachs will espresso, which has all made us a bit wirey and a little cracked out. Tuesday morning is the first opportunity to weigh and without Joy Dunigan to call to sneak in early on the scales, we are going to have to get creative on how to grease the wheels of the regatta organizers.
The sailing team is looking in great shape, but unfortunately our shore team is banged up for this event. Our main boat manger, Eric Arndt remained in the states for a procedure, and our social coordinator/Minister of Splicing, Todd “Hop-a-long” Meyer managed to tear most of the ligaments in his ankle while is a sky-diving tunnel, still managed to make the trip, but needs to be chauffeured any where he goes with a certified handler. He has been likened to Forrest Gump before he was able to shake the leg braces as a youth. I have not had the opportunity to be Todd’s handler yet, but when I do, I will make sure to include lots of stairs and hills. Big Jim Condon (6’4″, 294 lbs) is filling in for Eric to watch over the boat and has taken the responsibility of make sure he puts on whatever weight the sailing team loses. Fuzz Foster has yet to hit the disabled list, but we all are keeping a close eye on him.
We have our first practice scheduled for later today and with plenty of time before racing on Thursday, it will be good to shake off the jet lag and work on some boathandling. Our normal bow guy, Buddha was not able to make the trip for this event, so we have Shana Rosenfeld’s, husband Peter filling in. Peter has taken on the task of dropping over 18 lbs to make up for the difference between him and Buddha, so judging by his commitment to drop weight, he has quickly become popular with the rest of the team.
The fleet is stacking up to be a good one with over 20 boats on the entry list and the top European teams in attendance. B Lin Sailing has been looking tough with Federico Michetti-Melges Europe Pres, and Melges 24 world champ, Lorenzo Bressani teaming up, and it will be interesting to see how the French Teasing Machine does after their winning performance in Miami. Hopefully the Samba team can return to our winning ways that we displayed in Key West and take home the first Melges 32 Europeans title.
Stay tuned for more updates, and check Melges32.com for up-to-date results. Standing by in Cagliari (Calgary without the G)
Comment by Power Play Racing — May 12, 2010
Nice blog, Bro! Thanks for keeping all of us working guys in the loop with your world-class racing!!! Good luck and have a blast!
Steve and Max
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