Dispatch, Day 3, Hyeres

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Dispatch from Hyeres, beginning of day 3

When you go to dinner in this small town and you do not have a plan, a plan finds you. Paul Keane of Ireland and his lovely dog Reilly invited us to join his wife and the lads. Amidst them are former Finn sailors and former Olympians. They all believe that if the noble sailor Annalise Murphy of Ireland who stands 6’ 2” tall were on the course, she would’ve taught the boys a thing or two about the fine art of hiking a Laser flat.

The stories and the wine flowed and suddenly my wife was collecting compliments from all sides. Is she from California? Where did she get such a lovely voice? What pretty eyes you have. Uh oh, this could get dicey. Those apprentice masters are easy on the eyes and they haven’t been scratched or dinged by life.

But the story we acquired was worth the risk.

Today is the birthday of Denis O’Sullivan who is a legend in Ireland. He has sailed in every Laser Worlds except for one, and is the life force behind the 505 class in Ireland. The lads all spoke of him the way the folks at home speak of Peter Seidenberg, with the utmost respect.

As I drag my sorry 49-year-old carcass out of bed today, I can’t imagine what it feels like to rig up your Laser in 70’s. Happy Birthday Denis, I hope you have a great day and enjoy every second of it.

Youth sailors are all about the future. Master sailors are a bit different in that we race against the wind and the waves and each other but we also race against the clock. No one lives forever. How do we live each of our days? Sipping tea on the sofa, or putting it all on the line like Denis and Peter?

Not all of us have the potential to be World Champions, but every one of us has the potential to live life to the fullest and not let it pass by.

Dispatch from Hyeres, end of day 3

Today, Peter Shope put on his Home Depot leather gloves and went to work finishing the two windiest races of the series with a 1 and a 2. Scott Ferguson had an unfortunate capsize and still finished the day with a 1 and a 4. Were it not for the capsize, he would’ve had a 1, 1. Mark Bear won a race and it was only when he was on land and his friends stopped by to pay their condolences did he learn that he was over the line early and his bullet became a bomb, an OCS for more than a few points.

While the goal was to go sailing today, quite a few experienced some unscheduled swims. Let me be the first to confess to donning the bathing cap, as I capsized three times in the first race and only beat three boats. In the second race, I beat ten and did not capsize, but it was a challenging day and tomorrow promises to be windier.

I’m sorry to say I have no news on the radial race course as it’s a couple of miles away so I really have no insight on how those sailors are doing except to say I’m almost wishing I sailed a radial myself. I could easily starve myself down to 165 pounds to be a radial sailor but the wife will have none of it, saying man-orexia does not become me.