February was a Miami boot camp, with Gosia and EK exploring the vast waters of Biscayne Bay. We not only got a taste of Olimpism while sharing meals with Kevin Burnham, Magnus Liljedahl, Pawel Kacperski and other stars, but also while crossing tacks on the practice course with their pupils in Olympic dinghies, mixing it up with Star legends and Sonars practicing for their world championships.
The ultimate moment came on Sunday when Gosia entered the Shake a Leg evening races.
With the sun setting behind the Miami skyline, we easily won 2 races against the mighty fleet of disabled kids on Freedom 20s, some snipes, and a novice windsurfer and blind crew on the single J24 that we managed to take up on the starting line despite their rating supremacy.
Gosia’s tremendous progress only fed her craving for more.
She is a very hungry girl.
Later we took fourth place in J24 Midwinters in Tampa. This was an adequate result as we managed to catch two Z flags, one for each brother Z!
I then went to Antiqua for a fabulous week of island hoping with Dorota on the Swan 601 Cherokee, run by Hamish and Kaja. They took us to Martinique visiting all the islands on the way. This was a new and beautiful experience for Dorota and me, Dominca being our favored island.
Better Than… survived the next few months in Cracker Boy, in Palm Beach, next to Rima and Harrier who were not so lucky (see the picture in “friends”).
The storm went through the neighborhood breaking palm trees and power lines and throwing boats off their cradles. Dave Jurkowski miraculously lived through Harrier’s misfortunate short flight to the ground, walking away with minor injuries, and dripping with adrenaline.
Phil and Laurie got married shortly after and we all joined them for their honeymoon in the yard. As Phil beautifully phrased it, “we can’t quit crack.”
In march we called in some of the oldest sailing friends, Piotr Sernicki, Peter McKenzie, Mark Malloy, Mark Reiss, Jeffrey Udell, Don Kelly, Britt, Max and Peter McCloskey for SORC Acura, Miami.
Peter Craig was too busy or something, so the regatta was rather downscaled comparing to previous years. Fewer classes less boats, no tent. We raced in the only IRC division against the big boats: TP52 Samba Pa Ti, Windquest, Russal Synergy, Decision, Kerr50 Magic Glove, Hissar, Numbers, and Bella Mente, finishing 7th in front of Decision and Bella Mente.
Your pet sucks…
It was sort of depressing sailing behind the big dogs. We were giving up to easily, not focusing on our jobs, we were always behind. I, myself, hoisted the A shoot backwards and we sailed like that for a good few minutes before anybody noticed that something was wrong. That wasn’t fast.
Life in Miami was very glamorous. Mark Reiss arranged the 10 star Sheraton accommodations for us and there was plenty of entertainment, especially during our extended commutes.
April and May were all about preparations for Europe. I spent weeks in Florida usually as a house guest/pest in residence at the famous Mangiorre mansion or in Bonbon’s modest house, very conveniently located in walking (didn’t have guts to try) distance to the marina. The entire detailed plan failed like domino pieces when Peters and May started pushing the schedules back and forth. The 40” container in Ft.Lauderdale, full of cheap American goods as well as the big American truck, all my inexpensive tools, clothing and bicycle, got dragged by 3 different trucks to the Homeland Security compound 700 feet away from the hazards and customs clearance. It takes 10 days minimum and is extremely high tech; they did not even ask for the pad lock combination.
I took a short brake, drove to Jacksonville where I joined the Zaleskis, Randy and Maciek for the US J24 Nationals.
Not only did we win the regatta with 17 points to spare, but we also discovered that Jacksonville is not just an annoying turn on I95 with endless road construction, but that it is also one of the best places to sail in America, with a beautiful club, full of warm friendly fun-loving people and surrounded by miles of paradise gardens. The highlight being the alligator BBQ cook out.
In the mean time, Timo and his sons were helping me with the boat and Jeff flew in to calibrate and check the electronics. After an emotional good bye, we took off for Fort Lauderdale leaving behind an empty trailer, Tiki Bar and the Palm Beach Princess.
It took another 14 days, 4 different hotels, rental cars, 8 reschedules with Jet Blue and 3 with Virgin Atlantic. Finally, the Dutch flagged Suomigracht showed up, large and brown, and they loaded under the command of loadmaster Darius Borkowski. Despite Polish connections, I couldn’t watch the process since it is very dangerous for national security and all. I took some pictures from far away across the river and then heard from friends in Newport who spotted her looking proud in front of NEB.