Over the last few days we have been doing a lot of sailing, Mary and I have been competing in the the North American Mid winters. This is generally used by everyone as a warm up regatta for Miami OCR which starts next week.

I would to have said we had a good range of conditions during the event, but in reality all 3 days were in pretty light and very unstable wind. Despite not being nearly as fun this was a good thing for us. Mary and I have had very little racing experience in less that 15kts so it was a great chance to learn a few things.

We were racing on the furthest out race course and with no rib/coach boat for a tow, we needed to make sure we launched as early as possible everyday just be on the race course with enough time to go through our pre race checks. On the final day the wind was really light and the race course further still, we were the first to launch and it took us 1hr 20mins of flat out sailing to get to the start area. Most of the other boats without a tow were late, but in that case the committee were kind and delayed the start. 

As for results over the event, we basically ended up in 13th. This is a good step up from the worlds at the end of last summer, and with all the top teams here it shows some great improvement. Within the races we had a mixture of finishes, with what seemed like some very random snakes and ladders racing, everyone was up and down. We scored a number of top 5 finishes, but also some showers. Our boat speed seemed really good, and all things being equal we were always moving forward through the fleet. 

We have a rest day today before the build up to Miami OCR starts tomorrow. Last night we fully embraced American culture and went to watch the Miami Heat play basketball. It was an incredible experience, and genuinely gutting when we lost right at the end. 

Work begins again tomorrow, so check back for more updates soon.

Cheers all
TP

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