Ultimately, I accomplished my goal of training and competing for the Olympics. This involved acquiring a Devoti Carbon Fiber Finn, training for two years, traveling the U.S. from Seattle Washington to Biscayne Bay Miami, Palm Beach, Florida, Falmouth, in Buzzard's Bay in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, competing in the Olympic pre-trials where I won one of the races, and finishing the trials, in nine days of tough, competitive sailing in everything from zephyr light conditions to big chop and stiff breezes. In the aftermath, I sold my Finn and shipped it to of all places, Alaska, where a former European OK Dinghy sailor and physician now uses it to sail on a lake.
Now, I'm back to work full time in my other passion, serving as a Healthcare Data, Regulatory, and Economics expert at my company and corporate Olympic Campaign Sponsor, www.noworldborders.com.
In the light conditions I hoped for, I finished in the top 10, exactly my goal. In the heavier air, it was another story. The Finn is a beastly, powerful boat, where strength, size, focus, and TRAINING, TRAINING, TRAINING was so key.
It was a tremendously broadening experience for my family as well. We hosted sailors at our house from all over the country, and I met some of the best Finn sailors world wide. Hey, what the heck? I am married with three daughters, coaching their soccer teams and managing a business. It was fun to make the time and commitment to sail against the best for two years.
Special thanks to my wife for encouraging me to do this an not saying "no," my friend Mark Duss who helped me train for the event with road biking, Randall Gargan for fitness training, Ryan Eric Minth as sailing coach and tow boat driver, Peter MacDonald (editor, Solo) for convincing me to get a Finn and doing the trials, Blair Bryant for onshore support, Derek Mess (2007 Masters Champion in the Finn) for his encouragement, Brian Boyd (2006 pre-trials winner) for the four-beer instruction book on how to change the mast head halyard lock, Darrell Peck (North Americans winner, 2007) for being one of the best but most humble and helpful Finn sailors around, Rafael Trujillo (Silver Medal in the Olympics from Spain) for being such a gentleman and talking with me about how to sail better, Zach Railey (winner, 2007 Olympic trials and ultimately the Finn Olympic Silver Medalist) for sharing tips so well that I actually beat him in one race in the pre-trials, Joe D'Amico for selling me such an awesome well-rigged boat, to NHYC for hosing the event in my back yard so I could sail it, and Forrest Petersen for the great videos I am using in the blog, and to the Finn class and its sailors who were for the most part a welcoming bunch of sailors world-wide. I made some great friends.
My best wishes to Zach Railey, who will represent the U.S. in China in the Olympics in 2008. Update: Zach won the Silver Medal in the Finn Class in 2008.
