S urprisingly, the drive was not half bad. I hadn't done a road trip of this scale since college and was prepared for the worst... it never developed. We had a great time. Dan and I leave the boat at the yacht club and go to our hotel. We are staying at the Pacific Shores, a venerable institution where Seattle thistlers traditionally have stayed. Both the location and rate can't be beat. That night we go out for beers and play pool with some pool shark who claims to be a sailor.

T he next day (Wednesday), we go to San Diego airport and pick up my brother Scott who will be our third crew for the regatta. After picking up Scott, we go to West Marine and get Dan some new foulies. We also go to Sailing Supply (great place) to get some Amstel so we can rig a harness for the boat. While we are in the neighborhood, we play tourist and drive by Dennis Conner's café, which if memory services is called the Stars & Stripes. Racing doesn't start until the next day, so we rig the boat and try out the harness Dan has engineered. We consider going out for a practice sail, but why do that when so many other tourist activities beckon? We end up renting wetsuits and boogie boards and go boarding on the ocean at Mission Bay beach. We have a blast, even if we are the only ones stupid enough to be out at this time of the year.

T he next day (Thursday) we launch #3806 via the only method available at Mission Bay—hoist. Hoist fauxpas are embarrassing and frowned upon when there are up to 40 thistles waiting to launch. We pass the test and avoid dropping the boat to a certain death. Today is the Larry Klein Memorial Regatta. The regatta is named after a sailor who tragically drowned during a sailboat race on San Francisco Bay. The regatta consists of three races followed by match racing for the top eight boats. The weather is nice, but the winds are light. Needless to say, we do not finish in the top eight and get to observe rather than participate in the match racing. The match race course is short and is set in such a way that it is easily visible from the yacht club. This is about as close to a "spectator sport" as you get in sailing. It is fun to watch the match racing as there are a number of competitors we know from the Seattle and Portland fleets. Lettenmaier's end up winning the Larry Klein regatta in a fiercely fought duel.

T he next day (Friday) Midwinters starts in its full glory. Thistles show up en masse with tow cars sporting plates from California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Arizona. Turnout is 42 boats. Friday and Saturday's races are scheduled for the open ocean (see map), while Sunday's racing is done inland on Mission Bay. Unfortunately, 20 – 30 knots of wind are forecasted, so the race committee decides to race us on Mission Bay. I am disappointed as I have fond memories of racing in the ocean when I sailed 1999 Midwinters with Ruffian. The forecasted wind arrives for a while, but then fizzles to rain and light, fluky winds. On one of our races we cross the start line, only to remain stationary for what seems like hours as the nearly non-existent wind cant help us overcome the outgoing tidal current. It is a long day and suffice it to say conditions were non-optimal for Gludius Maximus. That night Dan convinces us to go out with some other Thistlers for "live music". For some stupid reason, I have visions of listening to Eric Clapton or Edwin McCain, but we end up listening to some head-bangers who leave me looking for the Fort Vinny Advil supply.

T hankfully on Saturday, the rain stops, but relatively light winds continue. Since there are so many boats at Midwinters, the organizers separate the fleet into two groups called the Championship Division (top half of the fleet) and the Presidents Division (bottom half of the fleet) for Saturday and Sunday racing. We are situated near the top of the President's Division. The weather remains unsettled so the race committee keeps us in Mission Bay for the day. For some reason, the three of us can't get running on all cylinders and our results bite the big one. After racing, to cheer ourselves up, we put the boat away and go boogie boarding. Boogie boarding is good and we end up being late to the awesome dinner at the yacht club.

S unday is the final day of racing. Conditions are similar to Saturday with slightly more wind. We have a better day of sailing and do well in races one and two and then blow it in race three. George Szabo from San Diego wins the regatta. After the awards ceremony we pack up the boat and get ready for the long drive home. Scott secures a ride to the airport with National's Growth & Promotion guru Kerry Nielan while Dan and I start driving. Like the drive down, the drive home is better than expected. The miles fly by and we are so exhausted that the off-shift driver has no problem sleeping. At about 7.00AM in the morning I awake to find Dan navigating us through snow in the passes of northern California. The snow slows us slightly, but other than that causes us no consternation. Next thing we know we are back in Washington packing the boat away for the regular season that starts in a few months.


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