A smart man, I call him ‘coach’, once told me ‘you can’t win the regatta on the first day, but you can lose it.’ However, the ‘coach’s’ words of wisdom rarely seem to apply to Air Force Racing’s helmsman Bora Gulari. . . talk about a guy who comes out of the gate firing.
Since day 1 of Key West Race Week, the sailing on Air Force Racing has been electric, to say the least. Bora explains, “I am amped up at the start of every race. . . nothing compares to the adrenaline I feel inside the 5 minute gun of the start.” As Air Force Racing’s tactician, I believe it, too. My other teammates and I agree that we can literally feel Bora’s energy and adrenaline in the boat, and it shows in his winning performance off the starting line.
As tactician, I have to admit I can’t wait for the regatta to start. Although all the pre-regatta testing (in the two videos below) and training is necessary, our trimmer Sam Rogers sums it up by saying, “It’s great to put all the sail testing aside, and just go sailing.” It has been just that for our team. After a nervous start and some uncertainties, we finally locked the boat into a groove for the windy conditions we love. Bora and Sam have done a great job holding the boat in a groove and adjusting the gears. They never stop pushing, which makes my job a lot easier.
Right now we are at the halfway point of the regatta with a forecasted lay day. Like a lot of teams, we banked on no racing today and took a gamble to push our team’s curfew back a couple of hours. Key West was lit up last night and is very quite today, especially with the almost dead calm conditions.
We head into the last two days with a ten-point lead, but a lot can happen in five races.
Cheers,
Jeremy
_ Access SW‘s complete coverage of Quantum Key West 2012. _
