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| From Left to right: Peter Shope (3rd), Arnoud Hummel (2nd) Brett Beyer (1st) Scott Ferguson (4th) Gunni Pedersen (5th) |
The last morning started with thunder and lightening and
then the conditions that Scott usually thrives in – light and shifty. So, what
happened I asked? Scott’s reply, ‘ok, it begins with a very bad start.’ Scott does not often get relegated to the second row within seconds after a start but in
this race, it happened and it went downhill fast. As Scott said, ‘The
middle of the fleet sucks!’ His finish was a 28th – his worst finish of
the series.
In the final race of the event, Scott found himself pinned
at the favored end of the starting line. Anyone that knows Scott knows that in
a big fleet, the last place that he wants to fight for is the most favored spot
– it’s too high risk. Regardless, he was there and found himself sailing off
the line in the bad air of Peter and Arnoud. Eventually, they both peeled away
leaving Scott to fight his way out of the left. Scott ended up rounding the
weather mark in 10th only to hit the mark in the process – can it
get any worse? Well, to his amazing credit, he was able to slowly tick them off
and soon found himself in 5th place, neck and neck with Peter. Along the way he saw Brett and said, ‘What are you doing here?’ Brett said, ‘Oh,
I’m just out for a sail.’ Because Brett had had an awesome first race, his overall
win was sealed which meant he could have sailed in without racing the last race
but once the fleet reached the shore, the score sheet showed Brett with a BFD
(Black flag-over early) in race #1. The boat numbers that had been black flagged were not posted on the water but Brett had had an inkling so he sailed the extra race just in case. Good thing for
him!
At the end of the regatta Scott had no regrets. Even though
his last day of racing was his worst he came in with a smile. He’s a
true sportsman - he has ultimate respect for his comrades and especially those that
finished better than he.
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| Good friends. |
As we packed up to go, Scott was in the car waiting and
asked that I do one last double check of the apartment. All I can say is that,
while it wasn’t fancy, it was just perfect…the view was amazing and the sound
of the crashing waves each night, mesmerizing. I was sad to say “adieu” to our adorable
property manager Andre, and even sadder when I closed the door on the sound of
the ocean. As I turned the key, my eyes welled up and I stopped for a moment,
then ran back in and opened the porch doors one last time as if to capture the
sound forever. So many good memories, so many amazing people and yes, I need
to be near the ocean.
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| View from our deck. |
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| Deux amoureux de la Suisse |
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