Day 5

Hi everyone! Believe it or not, it is over. I am still in one piece but believe that I will be mighty sore the next couple of days (speaking of sore--wait until you see my combat wounds). Who said sailing we was a safe sport? From everyone's comments, I guess I made the news. I haven't seen a paper yet and read parts of a photo copy. It has all been a whirlwind experience, but worth it all.

We began today in 14th place (slipped 2 spots). The competition has been fierce and the winds today were up to 22-28 knots!! That makes for a lot of needed muscle on those sails. We started strong and ended not so strong in the first race. We still struggle with windward sailing and seeing the shifts in the wind. But I must admit, we are much better on the downwind legs and it feels good. In the second race, we had "spinnaker failure." The sail couldn't fully launch because it was all tied up in the lines. We lost a lot on that leg and it was a miracle we didn't end up in last place! The last race was better and we placed 7th. Overall we made some gains today and our final placement was 12th place. Not bad for little time in the boat!

The great part is that the US Skud 18 teams took first, second and fourth places for this regatta! Nice sailing and hard work paid off. We have closing ceremonies tomorrow afternoon. Needless to say I'm exhausted, its late and I need a well earned rest. Thanks to everyone for their support!

Amy