Additional comments re: last nights race:

1) Team communication – i think we are all conscious about the criticality of communication but last night it seemed to me a bit off. I can recall 2 if not 3 times where commands weren’t executed in the ideal fashion. Its in my opinion that it was a combination of not hearing the commands, having commands change last second, and confusing the command all together. The good news is this is an easy fix. I think having that extra body as the program manager is key and usually mitigates this area for improvement. I also agree with Peter about time on the water…this was the first week back for us as a crew, and timing will improve with each week back.

2) Confidence – i commented to Peter last night that it seemed we were wishy washy with a couple of our moves. I think Peter described a lot of things below that builds/breaks our confidence depending on how they’re executed. It just seemed last night we were doubting more moves then not and the result was a lot of after the thought commentary and missed jibs/tacks/etc.

I do think we rocked with speed last night. We actually made ground multiple times on faster boats as Peter described. I know for me, a lot of technique and timing tips received last year came back into my head (the ways I helped Nate, order for which to lock pole, then feed spinnaker, then help with x) so I feel good about next week. All in all it was super fun, wind was cool and I really liked Nates yellow pants.