At this very moment I am sitting at gate 17 in terminal 5 at JFK Airport in Jamaica, New York. Our flight has been delayed by an hour and ten minutes and we have been sitting here since, oh, I don't know, 5 o'clock? Regardless, I am getting pretty sleepy. We had dinner at one of the terminal's nice sit-down restaurants. After eating a goat cheese and bacon pizza, there is no wonder why I am getting sleepy!
My last post was full of depression and frustration, but I am happy to report that my first Nationals ended with happiness! We did have one more bad race with a 26th finish, but it was nice to see that one of the top sailors, Greg Fisher, was right with us. But after that, we just didn't care what our placing was anymore. Just sail and have a great time. With this mind-set, we were really loose and calm. I found myself in the 5th race cheering on everyone in front of us which I never do! We finished in 20th which I was thrilled about because we were in the top 20 of that race instead of the bottom 20!
We were able to cram a 6th race after the 5th race and we had a pretty good start. Well, except we got boxed in at the last moment by a motley crew of young boys. But we tacked off and finally got a lane of clean air. After pestering my dad to follow God aka David Dellenbaugh who won almost every race by that point, my dad finally started to think like God. We had excellent roll-tacks, jibes, sets, and it helped so much. Soon we were passing boats and we finished in 11th place!
The last race was bittersweet because it was the last race. It was truly a dream come true to go sailing day after day instead of a couple times every month or more. All 79 boats were greeted with WIND!! Although there was some nasty slop n' chop, the wind created an incredible ride. The downwind legs were absolutely insane and at some point it felt like we were flying but getting buckets of water thrown at us. I was encrusted with salt before we were halfway done with the race! Once again we gained and passed on quite a few boats before crossing the finish line in 11th place!
With a great end to this regatta, my Mom, Dad, and I were content on our 16th overall out of 84 boats. Well, I think I'm more content on our placing than my mom, but then again, this is was my first Nationals!
Well, our plane has FINALLY arrived! So I will end this post with a list of what I should talk about in the next post; Thursday night shenanigans, Black Duck, banquet, Stew Leonards, host, and everything else. Talk to you all in Portland, Oregon!
Showing posts with label sailing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sailing. Show all posts
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Quick update: We didn't do so hot today. First race we got a tenth I believe. Second race we got boxed in at the start, got fouled and had to do a 720 degree circle, and got a 28th. NOT good. But surprisingly we are in 19th place (out of 84 boats) overall because of our lovely first yesterday. Greg Fisher is in first...no surprise.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Hopefully we will have the same (or better) wind like today's. Hopefully.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Hopefully we will have the same (or better) wind like today's. Hopefully.
Monday, August 3, 2009
I am absolutely exhausted. I would tell you why I am, but let me back up a few hours.
Yesterday we were suppose to have a practice race. This would allow the skipper and the crew to figure out how to exactly sail in the Atlantic Ocean. Figure out the wind, the water, the current, etc. Well, the clouds started rolling in and the moment the skipper's meeting started, it rained! It sprinkled, the sprinkles turned into rain, and the rain turned into a torrential downpour. So as predicted, the practice race was canceled.
All of us were bummed, but my parents needed to go through all the trophies and see if all the trophies were there. Half of the trophies were at another guy's house, so we had to drive to his house and see the trophies he had. Robyn and I didn't mind because the guy and his wife had two of the cutest dogs ever. One was named Lola who was a golden lab-dachshund-pit bull-hound dog from Puerto Rico. The other was a cockerpoodle who was also cute but not as affectionate as Lola. Lola would just lick our faces until we left!
We eventually came back to Cedar Point Yacht Club for the Opening Ceremonies, but that was all a blur. So I will fast forward to today.
This morning my dad and I drove to the yacht club at 7:30AM to get the boat ready and get the first spot at the hoists. Fast-forward three hours and my parents and I were on the water for the hour-long trip to the starting line. I couldn't believe how many boats were really our there. I'm use to 80+ boats out on the water, but all 80+ boats were ALL Thistles! I didn't really expect to do well in today's races, but that was just me.
All 82 boats were divided up into four different fleets. There was the blue fleet, the yellow fleet (us), the green fleet, and the red fleet. So for race one yellow would race the green (Division One) and the blue would race the red (Division Two). That way we wouldn't have 82 boats on the start line and it would be easier to divide the boats into the Championship and President divisions for the later races during the week.
So we were the first race. We sailed in barely any wind and during the last leg and a half the wind completely died and the race was abandoned. But we were in third place. THIRD PLACE. We couldn't believe it. Greg Fisher and Mike Ingham were in front of us which was surprising since they won Nationals for years. But it didn't matter anymore because the race was over and they didn't win and we didn't get third.
All 82 boats were towed back to the starting line and we drifted for an hour until the wind picked up. Once again we started and in the crappiest place ever. We started about two seconds after the horn blew but surprisingly we were in second place. The wind was super light so we kind of made our way up to the first mark and somehow we were in first place when we rounded the first mark. I didn't believe that our placing would last, but it did. Greg and Mike were behind us. So were many other professional sailors. Sure they inched up behind us yard after yard, but we were first all the way through the finish line.
We don't believe it I think. Nobody else does either. I'm currently sitting next to the results board and everyone keeps on saying, "GILLUM?! Are you FREAKING kidding me?!" I don't think anybody ever really thought of us as a threat since we sail in California. But now I think we gave them a nasty punch in the face. We beat Skip Dieball (pro), Greg Fisher (pro), the Kitchin clan, Mike Ingham, and so many more. Now people are actually acknowledging me which is nice. Most still don't know I'm a Gillum which is why they are making surprised remarks right next to me, but who cares.
I don't know how we will do during the next few days, but I'm not expecting another win. This was a sweet sweet 15 minutes of fame...it certainly was. :)
Yesterday we were suppose to have a practice race. This would allow the skipper and the crew to figure out how to exactly sail in the Atlantic Ocean. Figure out the wind, the water, the current, etc. Well, the clouds started rolling in and the moment the skipper's meeting started, it rained! It sprinkled, the sprinkles turned into rain, and the rain turned into a torrential downpour. So as predicted, the practice race was canceled.
All of us were bummed, but my parents needed to go through all the trophies and see if all the trophies were there. Half of the trophies were at another guy's house, so we had to drive to his house and see the trophies he had. Robyn and I didn't mind because the guy and his wife had two of the cutest dogs ever. One was named Lola who was a golden lab-dachshund-pit bull-hound dog from Puerto Rico. The other was a cockerpoodle who was also cute but not as affectionate as Lola. Lola would just lick our faces until we left!
We eventually came back to Cedar Point Yacht Club for the Opening Ceremonies, but that was all a blur. So I will fast forward to today.
This morning my dad and I drove to the yacht club at 7:30AM to get the boat ready and get the first spot at the hoists. Fast-forward three hours and my parents and I were on the water for the hour-long trip to the starting line. I couldn't believe how many boats were really our there. I'm use to 80+ boats out on the water, but all 80+ boats were ALL Thistles! I didn't really expect to do well in today's races, but that was just me.
All 82 boats were divided up into four different fleets. There was the blue fleet, the yellow fleet (us), the green fleet, and the red fleet. So for race one yellow would race the green (Division One) and the blue would race the red (Division Two). That way we wouldn't have 82 boats on the start line and it would be easier to divide the boats into the Championship and President divisions for the later races during the week.
So we were the first race. We sailed in barely any wind and during the last leg and a half the wind completely died and the race was abandoned. But we were in third place. THIRD PLACE. We couldn't believe it. Greg Fisher and Mike Ingham were in front of us which was surprising since they won Nationals for years. But it didn't matter anymore because the race was over and they didn't win and we didn't get third.
All 82 boats were towed back to the starting line and we drifted for an hour until the wind picked up. Once again we started and in the crappiest place ever. We started about two seconds after the horn blew but surprisingly we were in second place. The wind was super light so we kind of made our way up to the first mark and somehow we were in first place when we rounded the first mark. I didn't believe that our placing would last, but it did. Greg and Mike were behind us. So were many other professional sailors. Sure they inched up behind us yard after yard, but we were first all the way through the finish line.
We don't believe it I think. Nobody else does either. I'm currently sitting next to the results board and everyone keeps on saying, "GILLUM?! Are you FREAKING kidding me?!" I don't think anybody ever really thought of us as a threat since we sail in California. But now I think we gave them a nasty punch in the face. We beat Skip Dieball (pro), Greg Fisher (pro), the Kitchin clan, Mike Ingham, and so many more. Now people are actually acknowledging me which is nice. Most still don't know I'm a Gillum which is why they are making surprised remarks right next to me, but who cares.
I don't know how we will do during the next few days, but I'm not expecting another win. This was a sweet sweet 15 minutes of fame...it certainly was. :)
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