let the little girl dance

Well, i didn't actually get to race the boat this weekend. Because Will was late getting off, and the skiffs were the first class on the water Saturday, i let Ty take the maiden voyage, with the agreement that he'd race all the heats Saturday, and i'd race all of Sunday.

Michael proceeded to hurt his back in really choppy water -- several racers said it was the roughest skiff ride they'd had -- so he wasn't up to the task of driving the boat on Sunday, so i remained pit crew for another week. Alas.


To be fair, the course was a little scary. There were pilings along the outside of the course, which means that if you veer even a little farther to the outside than you intend (especially for us rookies, who are required to race in the outside lane to begin with), you will be reduced to a pile of bones and fiberglass shards. Michael, i think, was afraid that his back would seize up mid-turn and he wouldn't be able to control the boat onto the straightaway, which would mean that even if i reacted quickly enough to kick the killswitch, the momentum from going 65-70 mph through the turn would send us straight into those pilings. And death. Woo!

All in all, i think he made the best choice. I'm super disappointed that i didn't get to actually ride in the boat, but there's next time. And i did meet some new people, and Will got to see the skiffs race, finally, and now Michael's had the chance to take the boat on an actual racecourse through an actual heat and get used to driving in wakes and with a second person on board.

Next time out: July 28-30, Cambridge, Maryland.

Go JS-3!!