The last couple weeks were insane. I was home for two weeks after New Zealand to hammered out the golf classic, work on Pressure getting her ready for J/80 Worlds, raced for four crazy days in Newport, RI, packed up the boat, unpacked the boat, packed up ski stuff, picked up some Dodge boots and some Boosters straps, and flew to Munich. I was home for one night after Worlds, which seemed like a few seconds.

J/80 Worlds was spectacularly fun. 62 boats in 20-35 knots of breeze made for four outrageously exciting days. On one downwind leg we were on port tack (without any rights) as we crossed (or went in front of) two boats on starboard tack by only six to ten feet, while all of us were ripping at 12 - 16 knots planning downwind. At those speeds situations with other boats arise extremely quickly. My thought process was I think we’ve got em, we’ve definitely got em, oh god I hope we have em. All I could do was stare at their bowsprit that looked more like a medieval Knights jousting pole than anything else. When we were going 12 knots, it felt like we were standing still. We don’t have a speedometer on Pressure, but Lifted a boat with one said they hit 20.2 knots going downwind in the last race. It was so fun.

After the race, both boats we crossed smiled and waved to us impressed or stunned by our aggressive tactics that barely paid off, we ended up beating both boats to the finish. There were six New Hampshire boats from Fleet 1 on Lake Winnipesaukee that were represented in the Worlds More Gostosa, Gallant Fox, FKA, and Argo III all had very respectable results finishing 28^th, 32^nd, 35^th, and 39^th, respectively. My goal was to finish mid-fleet, but after loosing a protest, being over early at a start, and not having any boat speed upwind we finished 43^rd. Jason Blais on Wave Theory, the other NH boat, ended up finishing a few places behind us. I love sailing on the lake, but down in Newport, RI we learned so much in four days than we would have in a season on the lake. All the boats were so tricked out with the newest masts, vangs, sails, and everything else it was just fun to be part of it. Not to mention, it was great to stay with my Mom and Dennis for the week. There nothing like home cooked meals and bag lunches from Mom. It was exhausting and amazing all in one. Two boats ended up breaking their masts, countless boats ripped their spinnaker chutes, and a bunch of boats lost or broke their halyards. It was a tough week to be a J/80.

Right now, I’m sitting in Munich at Starbucks rocking the free Internet waiting for my plan to come together. In the baggage claim, I randomly ran into Leif Haugan and one of his coaches and just outside in the Erdinger Sportsbar – the best place to eat breakfast in the Munich airport – I ran into Wolfi, my old coach with SRI. It’s funny how everyone rolls into Munich around the same time. Wolfi was laughing at me, as I didn’t have a sweet plan. I send out an email yesterday about getting a rental car from Buchbinder who has great deals on rental vehicles for ski teams here in Munich, but it was such short notice that he didn’t even read my email until I called him this morning. Wolfi and Leif are long gone as I sit here in the Sportsbar hammering coffee, trying to stay awake, and waiting for my plan to come together. I’ve been talking to Hermann at Buchbinder every hour and he keeps telling me that he’s working on it and hold tight; but regardless, one way or another it will certainly work out. When I get a ride, I’m off to Innsbruck most likely since the new skis I was going to pick up in Bregenz, Austria at the Head Factory aren’t ready for another few days. So the no plan plan is starting to come together hahaha. Don’t worry I have other skis, I just want to try some new ones that Aksel, Ted, and Jansurd are using. Thanks to the free Starbucks wireless nearby I’m not too bored. I have to admit it’s really nice to have a few hours of down time after being full-speed ahead the whole time I was home.

Ted, Bode, and Jimmy are either in Saas Fe or Solden right now and I’ll be able to catch up with them soon. The ski team has given me a spot to race in Solden in the World Cup Season Opener in two weeks and they have opened the door for training so that will be really nice. I still think I’m going to do a ton of free skiing and work in with those guys when it suits me best.

Hope that phone call comes thru soon.

Cheers, w