the boat yard. Once at the yard you could easily see the difference
between the sailing professionals and the family guys with careers. The
pros had just finished buffing the bottoms of their boats - the family
guys with careers were strolling the yard with cell phones in their ear.
I was just glad to have done enough life balance to be a working,
married father who could participate in the event.
After working on my boat preparing for racing the better part of the
day, it was a great reward to see my family join me for the opening
ceremonies in the evening. My two daughters and wife have benefited
from Finn sailing as well, having met people from around the world. We
have hosted traveling Finn sailors at our home and met them on the road
in places like Cape Cod. My oldest daughter is working on her fifth
grade "State Report" and was lucky enough to be assigned New York.
Magically, Finn sailor Art Dieffendorf flew in from Casenovia, NY as our
house guest. My daughter will have a real-life citizen of that great
state that can answer questions.
Forty-two American Finn sailors gathered to acknowledge the start of the
U.S. Sailing Team Olympic Trials for the Men's Heavyweight Dinghy. The
U.S.
Olympic committee and U.S. Sailing representatives said we Finn sailors
had mustered the largest turn out of any Olympic sailing class.
"Are you helping out with the race administration?" A friend asked.
"No, I said, I have been training like a fool for 18 months and I am
sailing in this thing," I replied. Win or loose, on the race course I
already feel like a winner having accomplished my fitness goals for this
race. My cardio is much improved with a 62 bpm resting rate, my weight
is down from a hefty 205 lbs to 183, and my strength has improved
significantly. While the extra weight would have helped me in heavy
breezes, I opted toward the long-term benefit of overall fitness. Oh,
how I wish I had another year to train and sail...
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