Santa Barbara - King Harbor: Aug 1

Click on picture for results: look for Aug1&2 / results / RATTLE & HUM

Paradise

... and we live here!!!

Coco says ...

'Why miss out on a great opportunity because the guy's an idiot? Take advantage of the trip and write him off when you get back.'

Who raised this girl???!!!

Always a bridesmaid ...

First place has eluded Sandy Hayes & team for the third time at this year's Mayor's Cup - but our second-place finish was good enough for me: racing my first big international grade two match race! AWESOME! I was so thrilled to get to race at this level, in great conditions, with such an incredible, fun and talented team, and get entirely spoiled by Camille-y and the organizers. Read more here: Long Beach Press Telegram and on the official website. [ps - check out the photo in the LBPT article: although it SAYS that Baylis is leading, look at the picture and see who's up front in the pink. US! Team 'Cotton Eye Candy'!]

The trouble with tacking duels ...

In a real duel, someone gets to die. In a tacking duel - you just get to keep tacking.

So it was today, 187-million tacks later, that we ended up with a 4-3 record. Pretty good, but should have won them all. Now, we think, we're 'fine tuned' for the rest of the regatta.

'Trouble is, so are the rest of the girls.

Sitting on my bed eating leftover CPK pizza, nursing one now-tepid beer, having saturated myself to utter prune-dom in the jacuzzi, I'm reflecting on the day. Sandy - compact, feisty, sharp-as-a-tack - knows what she wants and just how to do it ... Amanda - all 5' tall, 120lb of her pure muscle - throws her whole body into tailing the sheet the way only a 20-something can (with still pliable bones and resilient muscles) ... Adreana is at one point near tears, having been reamed for a task (I blame the language barrier) while Cindy hurls over the side (really impressive projectile vomiting - we are discussing the use of 'vomit as a weapon') and both rally phenomenally ('puke & rally!' became our battle-cry!) when the next rounding approaches. I'm SO impressed with the team and - as cliche as it sounds - really honored to be racing with them.

'Playing with Matches ... '

Vanity got the best of me, when I was asked by one of the top-ranked women's match racing skippers in the world to join her team for Mayor's Cup. Had I been thinking straight, and not so top-heavy from flattery, I might have said 'no': a practical answer for a 40-(mumble-mumble)-year-old who hasn't been to the gym in two months and coincidentally has a titanium ass. But I said 'yes' (guffaw-gush-blush-golly-gee) and find myself now packed and ready to head to Long Beach at 5am tomorrow ... On an empty stomach. Parched. Gnawing on my lips and bubblegum and craving anything solid. Trying to get 'to weight' I have been slogging along on the eliptical trainer and treadmill at the Y, jogging with the (puzzled) dog, dieting, drinking lemon water and have banished salt in any shape or form. As a result I've dropped four lbs but mostly from hunching violently over in pain due to calf and thigh cramps. Seriously: I am NOT a runner.
But I'm excited. In a masochistic, challenged kind of way. I place little goals in front of myself: 'Tomorrow I can eat again', 'Thursday we have the night off so I can pack my body in ice in the bathtub at the hotel', 'Saturday I can have a drink', 'Sunday this will be a-l-l behind me'. For better or for worse.
For news and results click here - look for skipper Sandy Hayes.