The Girls of the Hobie 16
May 19-There’s too much wind again. It’s always all or nothing around here! Oh yeah, it’s a lake. It’s the last day to make the top 10 for the Medal Race so the pressure is on for there to be more races and to perform well. We were sitting in first after one race yesterday. The wind was nice, about 10 knots and very spotty. After the front it was blowing from the south and somewhat offshore. We placed second behind the French team. The next race we were fifth and the South Africans won the race. That makes us tied for second with one throwout, and tied for first with two throwouts. So once again, it is anyone’s championship. Last night we had a Team USA dinner sponsored by the US SAILING President’s Club. It was fun meeting the other sailors and teams and having a chance to swap stories. Only two days left and our Team Racers are kicking butt! Also Paige Railey is tied for first in the Laser Radials. We are all excited about today and hoping it dies enough to race later. News flash! They just had a meeting inside the tent this morning. John Dinsdale, of Hobie Cat Europe, which is providing the boats, called us to attention. After all the damage done the other day, they announced a solution for protection for sailors to prevent damaging the face. The solution came from Puerto Rico. It was a cardboard mask for our teammate Jacques, who was a bit embarrassed by the attention. But it was a good tension release for the rest of us. The Tiger Gold Fleet was just called off the beach and the Hobie 16s have been told not to rig yet. The anticipation is building in the tent to see how the Tigers do. For complete results from the Hobie 16 and other classes, www.worldsailinggames2006.at -Annie Nelson & Susan Korzeniewski
