Our first race this morning was at 9:42 but they (ahem, KERRY...) marshalled us really early and some of our team wasn't there yet.
I'm already nervous enough as we have something to prove after all the shinanigans on the water yesterday. They made it just on time and we were out on the water.
Having studied the race grid last night, I knew that it should be easy to take a 1st in the semi-final - but you just never know! Our best time yesterday was 2:17 and we were aiming to shave 5 seconds off that time by the end of the day. We had Calvin, the steersperson from our 3rd race steering again - we really liked him and were grateful to have him back. Our start wasn't quite up to par but we pulled it up at about 175m and took an easy first place. We finished in 2:16 while 2nd place finished in 2:31, 3rd on 2:37 and 4th in 2:56.
Our second race of the day - the Finals - were scheduled for 1:12 but we were called to marshall at 11:30! We knew that the gold medal was well within our reach but were careful not to get cocky about it. Besides, it's all about the process - right, Jackie?
We had a long wait on the start line but the water marshalls & the starter kept us under the bridge where it was much cooler. Our final race was strong and when we crossed the finish line Jackie had a huge smile on her face. Our time was 2:13.18 - so not quite the 5 seconds we'd hoped to beat yesterday's time by, but it will do! 2nd place was 2:33, 3rd was 2:40 and 4th was 3:01. We got the Gold and celebrated with some Beer & Schmirnoff Ice, hidden not-so-subtly in blue party cups!
It was hot today - about 27 degrees and there is very little shade, but I'm not complaining!!!
What a great week I've had. I've made some AWESOME friends and may be able to race with some of them at future festivals. I will definitely be back for the 2nd Annual "Paddle the Desert" Water's Edge camp in 2008!!
Our very own Jar-Jar Binks!
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