En route BWI-SFO, 0830 PDT Friday

Otra vez is Spanish for "again" or "another time."

Last night at Annapolis YC it was standing room only otra vez. Or in the words of the famously fractured (at least when it came to language) New York Yankees baseball manager Yogi Berra, "deja vu all over again."

Early this morning our team website already had a story posted about last evening's Stop Two. If you have not already looked it is well worth the read. Good work by Jane and the website gang in Munich to get a comprehensive post up quickly.

I think we were all blown away by the success of the auction benefiting the AYC junior sailing program. This year three young sailors representing the club won the Sears Cup, the most prestigious junior sailing prize in the USA. No doubt the junior program is well deserving of the added support.

But last night's real focus was our team's design program. As Annapolis is the hometown of Farr Yacht Design, Mirko (who serves, in effect as our Executive Producer on this Tour) made R&D the centerpiece of Stop Two. Bruce Farr introduced the members of his team, all Annapolis-area residents, who are directly involved with BMWOR's testing and design program. Britt Ward then gave the guests a look inside the process and tools being used by our team to fulfill the technical aspect of that winning AC equation: "gathering and managing the resources that result in fast boats, well sailed, that don't break."

A lot of work goes into these YC Tour "shows." Britt wrote and re-wrote his extensive and in-depth presentation, prepared all the powerpoint slides, and rehearsed it a number of times, including yesterday afternoon's dress rehearsal in front of a "test audience" who were not shy about suggesting a few more last-minute massages to the message. No surprise that it ended up being one of the best insider AC technical presentations in memory, especially for a non-techie crowd.

Jamie Gail (NZL) flew down from his home in Portland, Maine and, like his adopted home state, was a breath of fresh air. Gary had a number of good questions for Jamie, as did the audience during the Q&A, which Jamie handled with ease, engaging directness, and more than a bit of humour. As Jamie is a regular on the sailing team (in the pivotal "pitman" position), we never get him over for the Morning Show on race days in Team Hospitality. Too bad because he is a natural.

Speaking of which, as the sport becomes more professional and there are more such morning shows, club tours, media interviews and the like involving the sailing and design teams, it is interesting to note the change in attitude among those we pull into such sessions and the team in general. It used to be like pulling teeth. But our guys largely get it -- that they have professional responsibilities on and off the water -- and all, especially the fans, appreciate it.

Tonight is Stop Three, our "home port" Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco. The focus will be on the sailing team as both Eric Doyle (USA) and Rodney Daniel (AUS) are joining us on the dias. We are expecting yet another sold-out event.

Otra vez.



Jamie Gale (right) getting a laugh out of Bruce Farr (second from right)
and the rest of us during last night's Q&A. Jamie could probably have a
second career in stand-up comedy.


Mirko presents a BMW ORACLE half-model to AYC Commodore Mike
Meyers in appreciation for AYC's hospitality and support.


Mark McGonigle, left, was the winning bidder on both the Henri
Lloyd jacket and the Girard-Perregaux team watch. With Mark is
GP's Stefano Macaluso (SUI).


Good to see so many young faces last evening. Design team
members Mat Bird (team shirt, left) and Bryan Baker (team shirt,
right) with AYC friends Bill Cook (left), Mike Jones (center) and
Bryan's fiance, Kristin (right).