Heaven & Clothes...I did not see 'Earth' this morning. My wardrobe had collapsed, not for the first time actually. Things that I had a part in assembly usually do not stay assembled for very long. I'm never good in technical things, none the least paranoid though it gives me lots of shivers. However, I had thrown myself the challenge of putting together my new hi-fi together, just to show myself that I dare challenge my weaknesses. This time, I had to literally, pick up the pieces. Ok, Sunday's training: Wind was blowing SW, between 8-10 knots and current was pretty strong (Southeast direction towards Changi) at about 3 knots. We did a series of about 6 starts which we had to focus on 3 things: i) Timing ii) Pumping Power iii) Position The challenge thrown to us is to achieve all 3 out of which if we failed in one, would have failed in all. Imagine achieving perfect timing and snatched the best position on the line, but lack the pumping power, the sailor is still going to lag behind and face all the dirty wind from the sailors who 'zoomed' off. That was quite a good refresher for me. Next we did 2 mini Sausage races, this time, putting into practice what we learned in the starts. Starts are PARTICULARLY important and crucial for short courses as there is no time and not enough distance to catch up on the fleet. Short courses are too explosive and adrenalin pumping compared to say, marathon courses or long course racing. The comparison can be seen in sprint events where every second and millisecond counts. I did badly for the first race. I lost to my rival. I had gotten a bad start and wound up having problems adjusting to gusts. I even had a collision with Ben who later got knocked down by Chewy. I sorta lost the flow and gave up the whole race. It's often the case with short courses coz it takes more than a miracle to catch up. Every step is crucial and every small mistake is magnified. Second race: I beat my rival. I sensed the wind shift and sailed down to the port end which is biased. Ben, Harold and I got off from the Port end on Starboard but was caught off by Andrew who sneaked off Port-tack at Port end, caught a lifter and reached the upwind mark first. Seeing Andrew catch the lifter, I tacked early and Ben did so later and lost out. I slowed down due to forearm cramps and lamented how I could have done better. Somehow, the boys have no forearm cramp problems. aha. My rival caught up with me very soon and I played wave-riding with her. I gybed much earlier to catch the favoured current to reach the finish line. By then, I had pulled a big gap between us. I did not pump at all coz I was nursing my blisters on my palms. Only 2 things I did on downwind to win: Wave-riding and making use of currents. yay! Then the PERFECT STORM arrived...but George Clooney was nowhere to be found. We had a great de-brief where we discussed and asked many questions. I later sandpapered my board and sent it for re-decking. The selections are coming...my equipment's gotta be tip-top. I will be rigging up my Olympic sail this Sat and prepared to kick some butts. Stay Tuned.