Friday Racing & EDHEC party

Friday racing started late in the afternoon - first race was around 3:30pm.   The wind picked up to about 10 knots and both starts were under black flags.

In the first race we had bad spinnaker problems - a wet kite is difficult to fill as it gets twists as it goes up.  But we still finished midfleet. In the second race we were great off the line. The windward pin was very crowded, but we smoothly made it in to start the downwind leg. The second downwind wasn't that good, and we lost several boats, finishing midfleet again.

We didn't make it in to the finals unfortunately, but given the circumstances of not having the orginial crew and not fully knowing the waters, we're extremely pleased with our performance.

This afternoon, the EDHEC Business School director hosted a function for all of the international teams. We met the director and his wife, and greatly thanked him for their school's donation to help us compete in the 42 Course Croisiere Edhec. We'll post a pictures as soon as the internet allows.

We're really sad that the tournament has ended for the non- finalists. Most international schools are leaving later this evening. We've all definitely made many, many new friends from around the world (including Sengal)!

A big thank you to Simon, Deborah, and of course Margaux; the international coordinators of the CCE 42e have been amazing in helping us attend the event and with administrative duties.

Tonight is the big party for all of the sailors, and we're excited to say our last goodbyes to many of the teams. Tomorrow we clean the boat and congradulate the winners before taking off to Paris via train.

This has been a truly wonderful experience for everyone on our team.  The event has been very welcoming of our presence and provided us with a great opporutnity to integrate not only with the culture of the international sailing community, but also with that of many international peers.  There is not a doubt in any of our minds that the experience was worth far more than the months of work and prepartation it required.  We would like to again thank all of our sponsors, without whom none of this would have been possible.  Those of us who can return next year to the 43rd Edhec Boat Cup certainly hope to do so and are very motivated to begin the necessary groundwork as soon as they return to the states.

Another update soon with pictures!
-Victor, Drew, Morgan