Aug 02 2009
2009 San Juan 21 Western Nationals
There is little in this world more rewarding than throwing yourself into something you truly believe in. This year I volunteered to be the Chairman of the Western National Regatta hosted by fleet #1 in
With so much of my energy for the months leading up to the event going into making the event great for all those great sailors committed to the SJ21, I have only recently had time to reflect back on my individual experience and performance in the races. To sum it up… It was one of the best experiences of my life.
What made it so special was racing with my oldest friend. Patrick and I have known each other since before I can remember. He has always been there, and one of my deepest desires in the world is that he always will be. Together we launched into the spinnaker class with more enthusiasm than brains, and despite that after the first day (2 of 5 races) we held the points lead for the regatta. It also helped to have my parents aboard Xanadu as the committee boat, every time I sailed past I felt as though we had our own private cheering section. The second day we (read I) made some mistakes and we fell back quite a ways in the standings. Ultimately we finished 5th out of 13 boats just in front of Ruth Barcus (who won her first SJ21 national title the year I was born). For more on the races please read the write up I submitted to 48 North (page 43) here.
When I bought Limpet from a stranger off of Craigslist, this is exactly the type of event I had in mind. The dock was full of cool and friendly sailors. I jumped into
P.S. Ruth: I understand now what you mean about the history of the fleet and the need to thoughtfully steer this fleet through day to day fads. I just hope we have the wisdom to do what is needed to attract new members without sacrificing the vision of those who have worked so hard to bring us here. Again I apologize I didn’t hail louder.
All the best to everyone,
AC