Unfinished Olympic Business

OH BEHAVE!!  Here I am in Weymouth England, the venue for the 2012 Olympic Games and this years World Championships.  I am dialed into the local conditions, I am speaking English with a British accent and I feel like I could be James Bond!  Tomorrow, yes tomorrow is the start of racing for the worlds, and I am smiling from ear to ear.  It’s been a long year of waiting and training to finally get here, the new  chapter of my journey and venue for the Olympics shall begin tomorrow!

This is the first time for me at the new Olympic venue for Sailing, and as I settle down onto the area I could immediately feel the excitement of the upcoming Olympic Games (helicopters and all).  No pink Panther though (I did look).  It is here I will spend a majority of my next 3 years of preparation.  The day after the Beijing Olympics my quest for 2012 started and that Olympics left me with some very unsettled and unfinished business to contend with for London.  So here I am, eyes focused on the new venue and most importantly the World Championships.  This is the first World Championships in my career that I have focused a majority of my season’s preparation, and coincides with a shift of how the US Olympic Team will be qualified at an upcoming worlds instead of a national trials.

Since arriving here there has been a relentless wind, blowing to over 30 knots each day, and what a stark contrast to the super hot and no wind venue of the last Olympics.  They say it can blow anything here, and so I am waiting for what else it can do but rain and blow like stink.  But I’d rather be planning along at 30 mph plus squinting in the rain on my trusty new Olympic Board than fanning the sail relentlessly through seaweed and the Chinese jungle gym.  Oh did I mention they speak English here?  What a pleasant place to just cruise the street and say hello to random strangers without feeling like a complete oddball tourist.

My sails and boards are in proper tune and today I finished putting on the 3’ by 4’ American flag on my sail, noticing how proud I am to be sailing for our country.  More proud to go out there and sail my heart out the next week and set a new personal best for a Worlds and new Olympic venue.  Time to start to finish this business!  It is tomorrow we get some progress report for that Olympic Medal I’ve been training so hard for.  So without anything more cheeky, join me this week for the world Championships!!  Thanks for all your support and special thanks to Susan and Pat Henry and the US Sailing Team Alpha Graphics for their continued support this year.  Let’s get them! I can’t wait.  I am so pumped.

Check out www.rsxclass.com for results and my website for personal updates!