Summer storms . . .

. . . Double Bay was a glow last evening. Thankfully, mother nature's display did not roll through till after the prize giving. As the daylight bid us farewell, the flashes of purple, red and orange timed with long rumbles of thunder; proved to be the ultimate prize for the day's events.

With regards to sailing, we had normal conditions for a Saturday; with the usual boat traffic (sailboats of every size, ships and tankers) . . .shifty breezes . . .and race course chaos due to an untimely on the water visit by Dick Cheney (if Americans wonder why we are not properly received while visiting other countries, it may be, when our leaders drop in for a visit, they disrupt a countries favorite pass time and life. . . creating traffic delays . . .I think you get the point).

At any rate . . .back to sailing! Our guys were a little worked over yesterday . . .the skiffs can humble the best of character! You have to take the whipe outs, bruises and frustration and use it to motivate self to be better and move forward. The team really loves being here: the high level of play and the opportunity to grow as sailors. So . . I keep the smile on, band-aids in hand and ice in large supply for the "foul weather" days.

Despite the bruises . . . of all the days; yesterday's tales of on the water aerials and acrobatics was the most colorful thus far! There was a bit of swimming and gravity defying acts. . .standing on shoulders . . .flying around forestays . . .how's the mental image coming along? Are you ready to sign on for a ride?

We have one more day of play before we pack up the boat, clean out the flat we've called home and prepare for long flights to the Northern Hemisphere Monday (however, SailTrim heads to Melbourne next). We will do some feel good physio before they head out, they've all been well fed by Jenna our chef and will soon be heading down to tinker one last time on the boat before heading out at 2:30pm our time for one last ride.

For me, the brunt of the work has come and gone. Our final hours together have been and continue to be planning for the next event. SailTrim will be visiting the team in April for a few meetings with hopes to return to the UK for a lengthy stay to train the team and travel through Europe. It's all a rough draft, however; the newsletter can be managed from anywhere in the world and the sailing overseas calls to me strongly.

So now blogging has become more of a "routine" for me, hope you have all enjoyed the "ride" this past week and hope you'll stick around for continued tales from my trip to Melbourne and then onto Miami for Premiere's Acura Miami Race Week. The later should be a hoot, since I will be racing with hometown Mumm folks and tales from the rail are always a treat (at least my father seems to enjoy!).

Fair Winds ~ Jenn