The jet lag is wearing off and our lower backs are realigning after a long day of travel back to the United States of America. I could tell that we all felt a sense of relief to be home but for me it also solidified the end of a great run. Being part of the process of building the 2009 URI World Cup Racing Team has been one of the highlights in my young life. The opportunity to train and lead a group of motivated young sailors into battle has been an incredible learning experience that will transcend the race track in Marseilles France. It effects how we all look at our education, our personal lives and how we interact with scociety as a whole. The support we have recieved from friends, family, the sailing community and our sponsors only provides more motivation in whatever endeavors lie ahead of us. After six months of fundraising, theorizing about the Student Yachting World Cup and finally making the dream of competing in it a reality, one would think we are ready for a nice long nap. Believe me, I thought about it.
Our dreams of an easy Rhode Island hibernation are quickly dashed however by the opportunity and desire to make the trek to the US Naval Academy for the 2009 Kennedy Cup Trophy. We are excited to get back in the ring this weekend and battle some exceptional collegiate big boat teams for the chance at representing the United States in 2010 at the Student Yachting World Cup. We are taking a core group from this years World Cup effort and mixing in several new faces. Growth and development never take a holiday, they don't even take a day off, so it is always important for URI Sailing to bring new talent and energy into the mix.
We leave on Thursday night and have our eyes set forward on the new task at hand. We can only look to the past six months for inspiration and energy. Not to what we could have or should have done. We learned so much about our team, the event and URI Sailing's ability to leave it all out on the water that we can hold our heads high as we pursue our next goal. We are going to sail with that same poise and determination this weekend and will be reporting from Annapolis as the action takes place.
Stay tuned...
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