Sunday, November 28, 2010

Success Comes in Many Forms

Pretty happy crew. Some disappointment and as usual many lessons learned. Congratulations to Romain for an amazing regatta. Romain, Quinn and I had several discussions regarding setting goals, visualizing and even meditating. The interesting take away from our week spent in New Orleans was how often what you believe and what you think might come true, does come true. Quinn's goal was to have fun, make it to the finish of the week without a disaster and gain confidence. Romain's goal was to qualify for South Americans. Both of them were steadfast in making these two very different things happen, and in the end both goals were realized. So, keep your dreams close and your goals even closer.

Thanks everyone for a great trip!!!!
Riding on the shuttle to the airport was more fun than usual...
Plane ride home was also more fun than usual, but you can only take so much fun...

Day Seven -- Long Days Journey Almost into Night

 After missing out on sailing on Day Two of racing the race committee did their best to sail as many races as possible. On the water at 8:30am and five races later finally off the water at 4:30pm.

Day Seven -- Preparation 15 knots and 44 degrees... brrr

 3 more layers to go...



Jumping jacks attempting to warm up....

Friday, November 26, 2010

End of Day Six

With the anemometer creeping over 30 and the thermometer dropping into the low, low 50's the race committee patiently waited for conditions to improve. In the end, most agreed it was a good decision to retreat and live to fight another day.

Day Six -- More Race Day Two

 Postponed
 Postponed
Cancelled

Day Six - Race Day Two

Pictures are worth a thousand words... But, I'll add a few anyway. Cold, windy, big waves.

Thanksgiving Dinner

THANK YOU!

Day Five -- Race Day One

 Early morning jitters were the norm in this household. Another warm day of excellent conditions. Reports ranged from 15-20 with some bigger puffs on occassion. Team West Side faired well and would have liked to keep on sailing however our day ended early in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Three races were held, with Quinn having the most exciting of the reports back at the dock. As the story goes, it was 45 seconds to start number three when Quinn decided to reposition himself above the boat above him. He backed up and while backing another sailor sailed across his transom, and clipped him just enough to spin his boat sideways and he flipped. Yikes. Three minutes after the gun Quinn finally crossed the line, sailed the race and finished deep, but not last. Not too much else to report, other than everyone had smiles as we headed home to play a little basketball and take a dip in the pool before heading downtown for a little feasting.





Day Four -- Registration and Rest

 A goodie bag sampling...
 The Rain Forest at the Aquarium
Yes, we filled our rest day with some underwater viewing

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

A Little Voodoo

Hopefully the voodoo doll Laurie has in her bag will bode well for the upcoming days in the land of ritual... 
Don't be alarmed Mom's... It was much less scary in person.

Bourbon Street


Day Three - A Visit to the French Quarter After Practice


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Jack Barton Sighted in New Orleans

He's looking good and traveling in style!

More Shots of Our Host, Hostess...




Day Two Practice

Rigged, ready, lunch, talk...

Southern Yacht Club

View from the West.

Day One -- Dinner


We are in Saints Country

If we learned something on Sunday, it was we love the New Orleans Saints Football Team... We had better, because not only does the flag look different, but everyone here pretty much wears the team logo on ALL their clothing.

Day One Practice - Getting Acclimated

It was a beautiful day of sailing with puffy, shifty conditions 8-14 knots, warm air and warm water. All is well.