The really wasn't much rest bite at home. Following a great christmas with lots of laughs with friends and family, it was pretty much straight back to business. As I explained before we have 2 major regattas located out in the U.S. The annual Miami World Cup is directly followed by our World Championships on the other side of Florida in Clear water.
Because of the closeness of the two regattas, in order to get some good training time on location in Clearwater we had arranged to sail there at the start of January before moving to Miami for the world cup. This unusual schedule meant Nikki was able to be there for quite all of it, and so in a bit of a 'blast from the past' scenario good friend and old crew Richard Glover donned a wig and exchanged his normal key board for some sailing gloves. Having meet rich in London we headed for the airport and the lads headed state side. As far a journeys go, it was a particularly good one, for what ever reason I managed to be upgraded on the flight, and so enjoyed champagne and some very fine dinning as i crossed the pond. On landing the car hire staff took a liking to a pair of bumbling brits and we were given a what can only be described as 'very american' car. We found our way to the accommodation which again was a great success. Despite arriving at night the private pool and hot tub needed to be tested!
The following days were full of sailing. Rich and I wasted no time in getting the boat together and experiencing the venue. I was really glad we managed to spend some time training in clear water the conditions were really challenging. Despite launching in at the deep end it didn't take too long for rich to find his sea legs again. Working closely with Jan and Lea our german training partners we managed to nail down some of the set up required in those kind of conditions. I also made sure rich got introduced to some of the american experiences including a very enjoyable evening at Hooters. Just as rich was starting to feel comfortable on a catamaran again his trip came to an end, and like a proper wrestling tag team he left as Nik arrived.
It was great to have Nik back, she has been working hard at home and was fit and fresh for the up and coming regattas. The first part of this chapter was to get the boat from Clearwater across to Miami. Working with John and Hannah and after some wizardry wiring and trailer light skills we were road tripping across the sunshine state. After spending so much time in Miami last year, we are pretty familiar with the city now. So Nikki and steamed into action and after finding our apartment spent the most rainy day ever building the boat. Honestly the Miami storm made cornish rain look tame!
We are now half way through a warm up regatta, Unfortunately due to too little and today too much wind, we have done a grand total on one race. The final day of racing is tomorrow, its expected to be a big day to try and catch up on the lost races so far! So stand by for a big update on racing tomorrow.
For now I am watching the sunset over Miami and preparing for what is sure to be a BDOTW!
TP