Fun. Really fun. Okay, ridiculously fun - I haven't had so much sheer fun sailing in a long while. Racing with John Casey this past week was a kick in the pants start to finish. I swear it is not false modesty when I say that he could have performed well with any half-awake monkey on the front of the boat - he is stunningly talented. Normally I would have put this in the middle or end of the post, but if I had, JC would have never read it.

The volunteers who put on the event baffle me - why so many people are so generous with their time and resources is a mystery that I hope is never solved. Real people make this happen; Gordon Isco who made the trophy with his own hands; Darline Hobock, Dave and Barb Shafer, Jake Kohl, Kevin Rejda, Tom Farquhar and others on the Committee who have evolved and refined the event over the years; sailors like Chris Stater who first proposed the current rotation system; competitors like Jacques Bernier who reinforced the idea that the Championship should end on an A-fleet race to avoid abandonment possibilities and keep the spectators engaged; builders like Jack Young, Doug Skidmore, Matt McDonald and now Greg Goodall, who take a paltry charter fee to field a fleet of brand new boats, year after year in support of a small but avid community of sailors. Like bricks, each element has been added to a foundation lain by Hobie Alter to build an edifice to one-design competition. Between races, going over the boat you get assigned and double-checking every knot, shackle and block, it might be too easy to forget to be humble standing in the shadow of the sailors who have gone before you. A quick glance at the names on the trophy put it back in perspective for me. And the sense of good-natured and fierce competition fed the feeling of sanguine peace and focus that kept me warm all week.

Thanks to everyone who worked to make it real, and thanks, too, to the other teams. I hope everyone got home safely. Now I'm going to take a break from unloading and catching up on e-mail to go tell my daughter a bed-time story about a big race for a sacred Cup.