I want to personally thank everyone who made this mission a success. All of you who know us, know what it takes to get it all together and make it happen at Champs. See photo...and we could not do it without your help. If you are reading this you know who you are, but a big thanks to...
Eva Mauck, Sean Lupton-Smith, Dawid Mocke, Helen Workman, Scott Kelly, Ed Visser, Cathy Weinberg, Rich Sprout, Paul Navaro, Bruce Fincher, Pat Pruit, Dave Jensen, Dr. Philippe and Dr. Cindy Bocarra, Lucy Alverz(babysitter), my mom and mostly to Hayden, Reece(you were awesome all weekend except for your growing pains at 2 am), Danica and Patrick, who everyday encourage me to do my best. They remind me of whats really important.

Typical Newport training day

Pat drove up to SF this weekend to drop off some skis and then I flew up to race the last summer Wavechaser race. It runs almost the identical race course as the USA Champs next weekend. Patrick did outstanding with a 2nd place finish to Carter Johnson..just 10 seconds behind. He said he had trouble seeing where the finish was and only started hammering with about 1 km to go. He loved the conditions, wished there was more wind (was about 20 knots). He's really moving well for the champs.
Then there was me. I was determined to fight my demons and race the Elite. I am freaked out about the mess under the Golden Gate Bridge after hurting my shoulder there one year. No XT, race the Elite. It was great under the bridge and great all the way to the turn buoy. I couldn't see Angel Island buoy..why not? been there before? Slowed to a crawl, lame in the ripping tide current mess and then limped downwind to blow in a staggering 15minutes behind Pat. Ok, back on my XT at Champs. I have more confidence in this ski, it performs well in the steep downwind(so does the Elite if you are charging). A great learning day for me...excellent to see the course again and get a little bump before the big party.