Steve --

Good for you for coming clean on the meltdown. I know I have been there all too often all too frequently and all too recently. It is a part of sailing that some of us continue to grapple with.

I have heard several times of unbridled lawlessness on the high seas of Islamorada this past week. Yet, when I peruse the results, I see only one DSQ. Is the Intl. jury ruling on the water and people are clearing themselves with penalty turns? Or is the jury turning a blind eye while they call the racing out of control?

And finally, I am a little confused. You said you were the one with rights over this guy. After being so right that you were "dead right", why didn't you file a protest and DSQ the guy -- if, indeed, you were as right as you say you were? The racing ain't gonna get any better until we take it upon ourselves to do what is right. And if you were right, then most insurance policies will cover the damage. The best way to make sure insurance will cover it is to get a favorable ruling at a protest hearing. So from my narrow perspective here, it would seem that protesting the guy should have been the first order of business for several reasons.

Most of us try to be or want to be corinthian sailors. But there are times when, try as we may, we just don't make the grade. Then there are the guys who don't even try. They just want to lie, cheat or steal their way to the top. In both cases, it is incumbent upon all of us to exercise the rules of racing -- and in particular the protest procedure -- to put everyone in check.

In the first case, the protest is a friendly reminder that we goofed and "fell below the line". In the latter instance, it is a vindictive response to a responsibility each of us assumes when we take to the water to keep the racing clean.

I'd be interested in hearing why you didn't protest.