St. Marteen to NY to Newport to St. Barth's Phew!

March 17, 2010

St. Marteen was a great event for “Stan’s Team”. They were very happy with one 4^th place finish in their last trip to the St. Marteen Heineken Regatta and finished mid-fleet overall. This year they were in 3^rd place going into the last day and finished a very close 4^th overall. They were the top charter boat in the fleet where most of the teams were sailing their own boats with their own high-tech sails. While the Heineken Regatta is one where there seems to be as much music as sailing with concerts every night, this team was here to sail and that they did that very well. I was proud to be their coach.

On a travel log note: I ended up stepping in as the captain of the ‘mother ship’ a 50 foot catamaran that we chartered from Horizon’s in Simpson Bay. The boat was a little bit old but the staff was great and the pricing was good. This was my coaching platform and allowed us to follow the fleet, get into anchor and prepare snacks and chilled Heineken for the debrief after the race boat rafted alongside. I couldn’t have done this without the great assistance of Martha, Karen and Naomi. And this is what I call ‘full service coaching’.

Back in the North at Oakcliff Sailing Center we continue to work full steam ahead and are reaching all of the milestones that we have set for ourselves. The hurricane force winds over the weekend didn’t stop 67 sailors from packing into our supporter’s clubhouse at 2 South Street for an amazing Dave Perry match racing clinic. At the end of the day I thanked him for such a great job and mentioned that everyone was having a great time. Dave said with the same enthusiasm that had allowed his message to get through despite rain pounding on the building’s tin roof – I was having fun too! Lots of Fun!

By the end of this week we will be back on schedule with our spring launch just in time for me to head to Newport for the US SAILING Spring Meeting. Back at work on Sunday and Monday and then I head to St. Barths for the Perini Navi Bucket Regatta.

Spring has Sprung!