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Mikee Likes It !! Big news!! It's been a while since our last e-mail, but we have a list of exciting news! As you may remember, Mikee and Dave trained and raced in the Barcelona Olympic Week and Princess Sofia Trohpy in Spain in March. We finished 9th and 14th in those events -- good results, but we always want to do better. We had great success in building speed in conditions we had trouble in before. US Olympic Coach Skip Whyte was instrumental in getting us to the next level. The first bit of new news is that our new boat from Mackay Boats in New Zealand has arrived in Long Beach, CA. We had some troubles clearing the boat through customs, however, all has been taken care of so that we may begin outfitting her in July in preparations for the World Championships in August. Second, Dave just finished the European 470 Championships in Gdynia, Poland with skipper Amanda Clark, the top women's 470 skipper on the US Sailing Team. There were 124 boats and some very stiff competition. The first day of the regatta was a bust for the team as their rudder never showed up to the venue. By the time they we able to modify the boat with a replacement rudder, they had to swallow three DNFs at great penalty. However, Amanda and Dave found their 470 groove again and came back with a 15-8-2-3-4-1-6 for finishes. Downwind speed has been a great asset and Dave is excited to jump in the boat with Mikee again for Kiel Conditions have shown everything from all directions. Gdynia has proved to be an odd place for weather. Great waves, however, have made for some nice downwinds. The cold water and rain add another dimension, too!! Third, while Dave has been doing some extra training in Poland, Mikee has been busy at college nationals in Texas. His team competed in the Team Racing and Fleet Racing championships. Mikee just finished up coed nationals with a 3rd in A Division and the title of "College Sailor of the Year" for 2004/05!!!! Mikee raced in the Sloop Nationals, Singlehanded Nationals, Team Racing Nationals, and Dinghy Nationals and won 9 intersectional regattas, as well as many other events. Mikee flew into Hamburg, Germany on the 16th to meet up with Dave who drove back from Poland. The two have been training in Kiel in preparation for the Kiel Week, or ´Kieler Woche`, which begins on Wednesday. Coach Skip Whyte flies in tomorrow. Stay
tuned and ask more people to visit our website and sign up with the Regards, ____________________________ 6/22/05 |