yup - great race this year for sure. The weather was incredible. The first couple of days were very trying but, more importantly, still fast. This was the first year that we were pretty much in sight of the lead boat at the finish on all but one leg - which normally would almost guarantee a top three finish if you could keep your minor boat failures to a minimum. However, the 20's were all very very fast and extremely reliable this year. Every boat length gained was precious and the one capsize we suffered just shy of the finish line in Daytona cost us large!

Our starts this year were huge. We gained a great deal by punching out of the surf as fast as anyone. We've always had a great pusher with Daryl (who couldn't make the race this year) and Chris Titcomb stepped in without missing a beat. Frank and I seemed to be much more coordinated on the starts this year as our experienced together in getting through the surf has matured significantly. We're now confident in hoisting the kite just after the start gun but before the pusher has relinquished control of the back of the boat and have it driving us through the surf immediately. What a rush that is to see that you instantly picked up three to six positions in the first three minutes of the race.

In years past, I've felt cursed on the leg to Tybee but Frank and I talked in great detail and made some very calculated moves that got us on the beach where we wanted to be right when the sea breeze kicked in. As we skimmed the belly of our boat over sandbar after sandbar with Todd Hart in hot pursuit, we basked in the sun powered seabreeze and flat water found right on the shore line until we met back up within a couple of minutes of the leaders just before the finish. I can't wait to see the SPOT replay of that leg.

We had some new stuff on our boat this year - namely a Novasail tactical GPS (http://www.nova-sail.com/html/product_ns360RC.html) that has a dual line display. It was a real boost to help us maintain focus and speed as we had both a compass heading and speed display. I would watch our speed to make sure we stayed in the groove and it was a real advantage to be able to see that constantly and identify early that the conditions changed slightly or that I had not been focusing on speed 100%. I can't wait to try it out on my a-cat around the cans. At this point, I can promise you won't see me in a distance race without one.