Ah yes. We have hit the halfway mark. What an event! Dalton surges up the rankings, with Bora holding steady on the KA.
It looks like the wind was a bit more dependable today, and that surely played well with Dalton. He was ripping on our latest sail, and posted a 4,1,4. That was enough to raise him to 4th place overall, with AMAC and Bora now lurking behind in 5 and 6. With the light morning breeze haunting, Bora once again chose the KA, and delivered a 6, 5, 5. I think if the he sees a couple more knots of wind, he will start to relax and get his groove on. It’s time for him to let go of the stress and just have fun out there. He may move back to our gear, so long as it’s foiling conditions, so we’ll keep an eye out for that. No stress either way. Dalton has done a great job to prove our product.
That said, I am not sure what Dalton was thinking when he port tacked the start of race 6. I told the guys to sail conservative and keep all there finishes in the top 7. If I were Dalton’s coach, I would bench him for a race. It’s probably a good thing that I’m not, as after flinging off the line, Dalton sailed to his first bullet. High risk, high reward.
On a side note… George Peet is one of my favorite guys of the bunch. He’s smart, funny as hell, and one of the very best sailors in the world. He’s done a good job to help with the Raptor development, from making suggestions, to giving me rides to and from the local loft in Miami during the Moth Camp sessions. As a crew, he is absolutely one of the best, having done the Volvo with ABN AMRO and crushed in the Melges. He’s got a nice interview up on SA, so hunt it down, and check it out.
Lindsey is still out with a bum back. It’s too bad, as I know she would love to sail. Hopefully the down time is proving relaxing, and I’m sure she’s helping Dalton stay on his game.
Tomorrow is a lay-day.
