Tommy Bahama Thanks You

Hey Folks -



The ever-elusive Tommy wanted me to post a quickie to say "Thanks." The Worrell 1000 was a blast this year and we had a lot of fun. Our web site enjoyed 89,000 hits during the race with a lot of folks coming from this forum. The finish time sweepstakes was big fun and it was great to see so many names I recognized entering guesses every day.



The tracking had some burps in the beginning, but I think we demonstrated that it's totally do-able and we hope to see it on EVERY boat next year - that was the whole idea from the beginning. We knew we'd take some lumps for trying out, but someone has to take that leap. As long as the rules evolve to prevent abuse, I think its a cool feature for spectating sailors.



Thanks for all the e-mails of encouragement and suggestions - we got scads of letters every day, and Nigel and Alex enjoyed hearing what everyone had to say during our morning coffee in the motorhome. We appreciate everyone who took the time to send a note.



The final story and pictures are up on the web site - Wick Smith is the genius behind the great layout and content. Next time you see him at a regatta on his Hobie 20, give him a pat on the back - he didn't sleep much those two weeks, even though he wasn't on the road with us.



Grab a copy of Sports Illustrated this week if you can - there are some great pictures (way to go, Walter!) and Todd Hart really explains well why folks get involved with such an undertaking. Hat's off, Todd - can't wait to see you again next year. The story in SI will do a lot to elevate cat sailing in the eyes of the general public.



Keep supporting cat racing - see you on the water soon.



John Williams

Tommy Bahama Sailing Team

www.TommyBsailing.com

John,

For your information. Diane Roten and I were talking Monday about your daily emails.. she claims her hubsand Rick (H20) has been experiencing withdrawl, as well as, the both of us from NOT getting those daily adventure reports. You had us hanging on the edge of our seats.We logged in endlessly to see position reports--Oh how we all wished we were there.. Monday afternoon when I found a message from Nigel looking for my address on my cell phone I thought it was my English Friend (Wadsworth F27) playing a prank on me.... the accent was right. but he didn't know I won one of the Worrell legs.. I'm only sorry I didn't get a change to Thank Nigel on the phone.. I'm hoping all of our paths will cross sometime this summer. Keep up your spirit and zest for life. Have fun with your wife on your new Mystere 4.3

Thanks for all your hard work and just don't worry about the main sheet traveler thing.. we have all done it..

Kathryn clark

-Hey John ,

Great team effort , the guys are great for the sport in so many ways , hope your organizational skills are appreciated, your very intence on the countdowns and starts, each time we were around you during starts it always kind of fired me up also .Good show in all regards.



We have some great pics of you and the team we will send over , still hav,nt seen them all myself, it takes a couple weeks min.



I'm fired up about other similar races evolving ,{as you can tell from # of posts } but obviously this is how the sport grows and becomes popular again,--per your teams example -by helping place it in Sports Illistrated, obtaining great sponsors for your team and for major events like S F , BY MAKING IT EXCITING , sharing it via web sites and with GPS tracking , all the great things the team are and will continue to accomplish , congrates to all , appreciate it tremendously.



Be looking for you and Rick win a future Alter Cup ,

,

have fun

Carl

Not everyone screws up in front of a Sports Illustrated reporter, who then includes the charming little anecdote in her story that goes out to a zillion sports fans throughout the world... did you know that magazine gets translated into like 50 languages??



I'll NEVER miss that traveller car again, I can assure you!



The 4.3 rocks - I am so greatful to all you sailors in the Great White North that have worked so hard to get them into the States.



Thanks for the encouraging words, too. I really enjoy writing about sailing, and the Worrell is hands-down the most exciting sailing I've ever seen - describing it isn't always easy, but it's awfully fun to try.



Hope to see you at Alum Creek -



John

Hey Carl -



The countdown in the mornings was the only time I really felt like I was helping - getting Alex and Nigel fired up by building the anticipation, creating a sense of urgency, and really getting the team involved vocally. It made me feel a little silly, like a cheerleader must, but I know it had an effect... almost to our detriment. We came dangerously close to an over-early penalty on two occasions this year as Alex, Nigel, Chuck and Dan would get so worked up, pulling hard on the leash with 2 or 3 seconds to go. As tight as the racing was, 15 minutes would have been devastating.



I can't tell you how relieved I was to see you at the finish line - the reports in the early afternoon that you and David had retired during the storm seemed very out-of-character, so we were concerned you might have suffered an equipment failure, or worse. When we could make out the big fish on your mainsail, though... well, we were just glad to see you in OK. Thank heavens you didn't hit any deer.



Hope to see you and Dave again soon -



John

John, What issue of S I is it.. I found the 5-27th but not Worrell news???

kathy

Kathy, Mike Worrell told me that the Worrell story was not going to be in the regular Sports Illustrated -- it is in something called the Adventure Issue, which comes out once in a while and goes only to subscribers -- not available on newsstands.