FBYC Team Pauses for Fun, Refreshment and Companionship
on Friday September 10, 2010 08:49AM
Last night the FBYC Team, Coach and Entourage paused from the intensity of the Campaign for some fun, refreshment and companionship at the Clark Cooke House restaurant on the wharf in downtown Newport. In attendance were the team (Travis Weisleder, Lud Kimbrough, Ben Buhl and Rob Whittimore, their Coach, Skip Dieball, and the rest of the FBYC entourage including Shannon Weisleder, Frances and Blake Kimbrough, Mary and Jay Buhl, Mike Karn, and Noel and Meg Clinard. Commodore Mayo Tabb will join us tomorrow on the spectator fleet. The team had a very "full course meal" from Chowder and Organic Tomato salads to Seafood Linguini, wine, coffee and desserts, including "Snowballs From Hell" served in chocolate coated goblets. But, it was a long time coming.
This was but a halftime respite from the pressure of racing in an extraordinarily talented fleet in challenging and unfamiliar conditions. All this experienced against the leading boats skippered by the 2009 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year or the crew from Annapolis YC which attended numerous major Sonar regattas as part of their campaign. The sustenance of the dinner gathering only begins to offset the depravation, injuries and exhaustion leading up to it. Reflect for a moment on the experience of the FBYC team, which has literally starved itself of almost 100 pounds to meet the weight limit of 650 pounds, including a steam the morning of the weigh in, to come in at 11 pounds, under after a hair raising practice day in 20 - 30 knots in the unfamiliar J-22. Then, on day one, they raced for 6 hours in similar conditions without a break for 8 races in two types of boats, only to repeat it on day two with 6 races. Not seen in the dark comfort of the restaurant is the gash in Lud's leg that would have required 3 stitches had he gone to the hospital, now patched and bound instead, nor the skin of Travis' index finger peeled back from trimming in heavy wind and current for 14 races. Not felt is the incredible soreness the effort has inflicted on all of them.
Today, for our fellows, its stiffly back to the cockpit for two more days of back to back racing in northwest winds, ripping ebb tide, gray skies and colder temperatures. So, cheer our team on with some salve of your collective support.