Sailing Blog
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August 11, 2011
I sometimes like to say that sailboat racing imitates daily life, and while I try to limit the times when i am “out of phase” on the racecourse, I have the feeling I am a bit out phase with heading out of town while the biggest Scow event of the year is being hosted Lake Minnetonka. While I will only miss the first portion of the event, it is never easy to miss out on the great racing and parties that will be taking place throughout the weekend. I am very much looking forward to returning home on Sunday night for a full week of A and E Scow racing next Monday-Sunday.
The trend of “Stadium Sailing” which has grown over the past year in fleets like the RC44, Extreme Sailing Series, and the upcoming America’s Cup, will be displayed at the Chicago Match Race Center with their grade 2 invitational taking place just 20-30 yards off the end of Navy Pier in downtown Chicago. During our 2-3 hour practice session today, there were huge crowds of tourists trying to figure out what was happening, as well as a good mix of sailing enthusiasts trying to take in the action. The Tall Ships Festival is also taking place this weekend, so there will be no shortage of spectators swinging through the venue.
Being a grade 2 event, the competition is steep and we will have some battles with teams from around the globe, as well as the high probability that we may lose to a team of women. 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist and one of the more decorated female sailors of all time, Anna Tunnicliffe and her Maclaren Sailing Team will be competing and this will mark the first time since my sophomore year of college when I had to take “18th Century Women in Literature” taught by a raging feminist professor, that I have been afraid of the opposite sex. These girls spend a lot of time match racing, and they are seriously good and we will have to really be on our game just to hang with them. Anna and her team, along with Bill Hardesty, Will Tiller, Mike Buckley, Laurie Jury (a guy with a girl’s name from NZ) and several others ranked in the ISAF top 50 will make this a very tough event. Our team of Don Wilson, Steve Hunt, Eric Doyle and myself will be relying on experience and familiarity with the Tom 28s to help get us through the weekend with a good result.
And shifting gears, my luggage is still missing. I try to pride myself on not letting things like this bother me, but I have to say, not having my normal clothes or the time to shop for a new kit, and having to go to the basement to dig out shorts, sailing gear and flip flops that were retired years ago has me a bit chicken-winged. I am still holding out hope that my bag will randomly turn up, but it is probably best if I just accept defeat, and move on.
Cool video preview of the racing off Navy Pier.
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