I was listening for the sound of crickets at Sunday night's Key West Race Week welcome party. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it wasn't nearly the jam-packed party venue I remembered from previous years. Then I remembered the huge play-off game happening that night between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots. Given the number of sailors here from both of these regions, it made sense that many chose to check out the game and save the parties for the rest of the week.
So far the racing and the parties of KWRW '13 have been stellar, as always. Monday was a light wind day but all three courses enjoyed a full day of racing, and a good opportunity to work out the kinks. The day was sunny and warm, but not too warm...and glorious for those of us who traveled from the frigid temps up north. A much livelier party followed on Monday evening with talk of the days racing, the Ravens big win on Sunday and debate over the other New England/Baltimore competition; the Volvo Ocean Race stop-over.
Similar to last night's party, today's racing was much livelier with heavier wind and a lot of speed. Results haven't been posted yet today, but on Monday there were a few Chesapeake boats already in top spots including Rush, Tangent and Rhumb Punch. It will be exciting to follow the many Chesapeake racers in the new, huge J/70 fleet as the week progresses! Tomorrow looks to be another great racing day and another chance for our Chesapeake racers to have a blast and kick some *ss! ~Shannon Hibberd
