Hey Bruce,

It wasn't as simple as just saying, " Hey, it's blowin' up around 17..... 18 knots , Let's go for a sail and pop the chute!" It was the Nationals and they didn't cancel. I'm thinking............ " are we really going to race in this?" Then it's like...." are they really going to use their spinnakers in this." So when the front 3 or 4 I17R's immediately popped their chutes after rounding " A " mark and their masts took the load, I raised mine also and what a ride it was!!!!! The boat seemed to just fly. We were racing in the bay; not the gulf! I only flipped once .......... it happened during a gybe. Big gust, I think.

Happy Sailing,

Tom