Go, Mom, Go! Redux

Mary Anne is back from Worlds after what sounds like the sailing day of her life. The International Melges 24 Class Association had this to say:

How tough was it on the last day of the 2007 Fullpower Melges 24 World Championship, hosted by the Santa Cruz Yacht Club?

So tough, with Monterey Bay cranking up 30 knots of howling chaos, that Dave Ullman, the winner, said, "We weren't racing at the end, just surviving."

So tough that Hank Stuart's race committee announced as the first race of the day was finishing that there wouldn't be a second -- a first in the class's 10 world championships.

So tough that 19 of the 58 starters did not finish. One, Corinthian Division winner Othmar Mueller von Blumencron of Great Falls, Va., lost half of his mast but finished with what was left of his rig.

Four or five other dismastings, a few blown-out spinnakers, one man overboard (recovered by another boat) -- those were the prices paid for sailing when the wind hits Force 7, with gusts to 35 (gale-Force 8) and five-foot seas form stair-steps up 10-foot swells. That's what greeted the fleet when it cruised out to the race course shortly before noon, and from then it got really nasty.

And while most participants interviewed sounded pretty freaked out, here's how Chris Doubek, helmsman for All or None (Mom's team) described it:

It was awesome! We had a great time. I think it was blowing thirty-something. We buried it a couple of times. We had one round-up, we put the jib up, backwinded it, dropped the kite down a bit, then got going again. We were flying. It was awesome! Awesome day! Loved it!

From the update I got, it sounded like Mom felt the same. Go, Mom, Go! :)