Long way to go yet….but still in first place and maybe on ESPN!

The day began drizzly and overcast, and all the competitors were bundled up for a day’s skiing. We had less wind on the course for our third day of races. On the first race, the wind was gusting to 12 knots and we kept extending ahead of the fleet both upwind and downwind and won the race. Nearly two minutes expired before the next competitor crossed the finish.

Just before race two, the sun arrived, the breeze dropped, we made some adjustments and crossed the start in clear air and to windward of the fleet. We were sailing much like the first race. Then, somewhere on the last windward leg we began to slow down, the breeze was decreasing as we came closer and closer to land and I was hoping it was just that. Team Paradise (Karen & J.P.) and Team Metedeconk (Scott & Julia) kept getting closer, I thought, “they must not be in this wind lull we’re in”. We rounded the mark none-the-less still ahead and extended a bit right after setting the spinnaker for downwind. Half way downwind and going for the finish, the fleet began to catch up again, it wasn’t the breeze we later found. It was seaweed…AGAIN! A repeat of the Clagett Regatta…the seaweed curse.

The fleet finished closer than before, but despite it, we gladly won the race. Nick and I now have a score of 3-1-1-1-1-1, and we share the lowest score (as US Sailing noted) in all 14 Olympic and Paralympic Class Trials with Laser Radial sailor Anna Tunnicliffe.

In addition to todays wins, two other cool things are worth reporting - our kids came to visit shouting “Mommy!” from another boat (many thanks to the Hostrop family for bringing them!) AND I was interviewed for NBC/ESPN by Gary Jobson. ESPN will try to put a camera on our boat today. The most recent NBC Gary Jobson report is online, about the 470 men and women on the west coast. We should be on in a couple of days

Coaches Mike and Dan took more photos, they’re posted on flickr. Some great shots of close racing, behind us!