Reminds me of the "old days" in the United States when we were racing Hobies up in the Midwest, where we rarely got a chance to trapeze and if the wind was over 20 the races were canceled. But the Nationals were ALWAYS held someplace with big wind and usually surf. Talk about being unprepared!

So how DO the North American sailors prepare for conditions like that, and where -- without spending a lot of time down on the Caribbean islands (or in Corpus Christi)?