Friends, family and great weather make San Francisco better and better each time we visit.

On 23 July, we finished a two week training camp in China so Rodney Hagebols, Mark Reynolds, JD and I arrived in SF last Wednesday. Our training camp was very productive on all fronts. We have chosen our boat for the Games, we have three masts we’re confident in and our sail selection looks fast.

Upon arrival in San Francisco, we all went different directions for the evening. I headed for the Erickson’s in Tiburon for some of their great hospitality. Then JD and I met up in the next morning to travel together to San Jose State University for Olympic team processing. At SJSU, we hooked up with the rest of our teammates and our team leader, Dean Brenner.

I have to say, I loved every minute of it! I enjoyed all 16 years of college, so I was naturally excited for one more night in a college dorm with my buddies and teammates.

The US Olympic Team is sponsored by Nike and Ralph Lauren, so we got some very cool gear that I will be wearing proudly at the opening ceremony and around town. They gave each of us a shopping cart and a clipboard with a list. I visited every station where we loaded up on everything, from four pairs of shoes to an Olympic leather jacket. We were even sized for our Olympic rings. We were also fitted for our opening ceremony blazers and trousers (Ralph Lauren even made the alterations while we waited!).

Then on Friday night, we were at my home club – the St Francis Yacht Club for a team send off party. Close to 50 of my family and friends came to party and did we ever celebrate! My childhood buddy CJ and his parents came along too, so I let them in on a secret that we’ve kept for 11 years. Back in 1995, I ran away from boarding school and when I arrived in San Francisco I hid out at their house, yet they only found out the details on Friday night!

It’s been great hanging out here in SF. Sally is here and helping me tick a few things off the list with some last minute shopping for Qingdao. Rodney has also been fantastic. He never stops working, I am not sure I could live without these people.

So all is well. I can’t wait to get this started!

I am enjoying sharing this unique experience with you and really love reading your feedback.

The best part is yet to come, stay tuned!

Austin

Hello from Qingdao.

Yesterday was a big day for us here in China. We have been working on a few items for the light winds we expect for the Olympic Games next month, but before we can race with them we need find out how strong they are and see if the stuff breaks and what its range is.

As you can see from the photos, it broke. Yes we found its range. Hence it was a the $10,000 dollar day (the cost for a new mast and a new set of sails).

Some people may look at this like, man that was a really bad day, but call me an eternal optimist. I look at this situation from a different angle.

1) It was blowing 20kts, with puffs up to 25kts (this is when the mast fell over) with really big waves out on the Yellow Sea. We knew the risks associated with what we were doing and went for it. You will never grow as a team, in business, in life or as a person if you don’t take a few risks.

2) It was a brand new mast that had never been in the boat before today. You might say wow that’s bad, but I say that’s good because we will never know if it was a fast or slow mast.

3) When this happened, our team rallied around each other there was no yelling, no talking just the sounds of waves crashing over the bow and the sound of a torn sail blowing in a stiff breeze. Four guys got to work to clean the mess up get on the tow and make it back to harbor. We were about three miles to the SE of the harbor entrance when this happened. We had this yard sale cleaned up and off the boat ten minutes after we got back to the dock. Impressive, like we had done it before.

4) Team work and togetherness are really strong – I can tell that we are getting ready to peak for the Games. When someone is down we pick them up, build them up and get on with the day. No mulling around, no head down moping around…100% business.

Today is another day, seven knots predicted so more racing today against Marc Pickel. It’s another opportunity to become better and faster.

It’s been a great training camp. We have nearly everything sorted for the Olympic Games as far as equipment goes, just focusing on the basics now.

We have four more days of sailing left before we head back to San Francisco.

I have to roll, I need to rig another mast and make sure she is ready to race this afternoon.

More later

Austin

Hello again from my second home – Qingdao, China.

The team arrived in Qingdao last Sunday after 30 hours of travelling. A long day, but nonetheless great to be back to work.

Since our last training camp in June, it sure has become a lot more humid and a bit warmer (I cooked two eggs on the asphalt next to our Star in the boat park today!). Rodney Hagebols, Hans Wallen, JD and I have been working non-stop since we arrived. We are here again with our training partners Marc Pickel and Ingo Borkowski. They are being coached by Mark Reynolds. It’s been great training with them. We are all really good friends and we push each other on the water, while off the water we press each other’s buttons for a bit of fun, always at someone else’s expense. This is usually good for at least 20 minutes of straight laughter.

We have a few new quotes this week that have stuck with us. My all time favorites are:

“Look at me when you speak to me”— JD3
“Diet Coke WITH ice”— JD3
“RODDNEEEEYYYY”— JD3 has perfected it with his southern drawl….
“Dude, du-de, de-dude dude dude” — Austin (the guys tell me when I see them screw something up I let out multiple dudes in one breath!)

A quick note about what we have been doing.

Testing, more testing and yes some more testing. But the good news is that we’ve finished testing and from this afternoon until this camp ends in a week, all we will be doing is racing. Time and dIstance, rounding marks, starts, match racing situations, gybing, tacking etc. Basics 101. It’s funny how you can get so wrapped up with testing sometimes you lose sight of the big picture. Remember, it’s a boat race and if we can’t execute the basics we’re already in a hole before the big show begins.

July 15th was John Dane III’s 58th birthday. We had a big night in Qingdao. We had a great dinner with the team at our standard restaurant DaVinci, from there we headed down to the club (which is also in the same hotel) where a bunch of sailors from other nations joined in on the celebration. An epic night! Just think about it, a guy who’s 58 is going to his first Olympics…pretty impressive.

I will be heading to team processing in San Jose, California on July 24th-25th. This is where JD and I hook up with other Olympians to get our USA team gear and fitted for our opening ceremony outfits. I read today that we will get Olympic Rings (for your finger, but I will also be getting my Olympic rings tattoo while I am in San Francisco. I still dont know where I will put it, most likely on my arm, but I am running out of room – sorry Mom). We have an option to take the standard ring which is free or you can upgrade to a more Super Bowl bling style. You guessed it, I am going for the bling!

I am really looking forward to it. This is an experience that I will never forget and have a hard time putting into words.

Austin


PS. Sally, honey I miss you and it’s almost over…

We have roughly one month to go before our first race of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

I just got home from China (after a 28 hour trip home). I literally started my stop watch when the wheels went up in Qingdao and I stopped my watch when the plane touched down in Gulfport… just shy of 30 hours.

A number of people ask me what I am feeling. Am I nervous, stressed, excited? Honestly I am ready to get the Games started. I am tried of talking about it. I am ready to get over there and give it everything we have. Total focus, total energy, total dedication. Just like we have done for the past 3 1/2 years.

People also keep asking me who are the favorites to win the gold? And what about the algae?

My mind set going into the Olympics will be much the same as it was during our Olympic winner take all trials. Full head down, eye on the prize. I am not worrying about the other competitors. They’re all professionals. They have all beaten us. But guess what? We have beaten all them before too. You can’t get too bogged down worrying about what the competition is doing. I can’t control that so I don’t worry about it. Instead, I focus on what I can control doing my job 150%.

My mentality is basically the same for the algae. My thinking is that with the amount of manpower the Chinese have working on it, it will get sorted out one way or another. Secondly with a target race time of just over an hour, there will not be huge amounts of leverage on the race course (like you see at a 100 boat regatta). In other words, the boats will be really close around the race track and everyone will deal with the algae. Some might get luckier than others, but nonetheless we will all have to deal with some kelp from time to time. I can’t control what happens with the algae, but I can control working on my keel swipes and rudder cleaning techniques.

It’s been great being home. Sally and I have been laying low and trying to relax as much as possible! It’s been very nice. I pinched a nerve in my neck so I have been doing re-hab about two times a day. I finally got back in the gym after a few weeks of being absent (not to worry I was still riding my road bike daily).

I also have an old coach in town, John Difede, who lives and operates out of Miami. John is currently living at my house, so with multiple sessions during the day (including massages that are NOT relaxing and lots of stretching), we are getting the issue sorted out.

This past weekend was the 4th of July. Big holiday here in the states. JD has a family tradition on showdown and Sally and I joined the small group of 96 other family members for a day out on the Mississippi Gulf. It was great! It’s funny when you marry a gal such as Sally that has such a huge family its seems like I meet new family members all the time (but between you readers and myself) I have met all of them 100 times but I gotta be honest I don’t know half of their names….. I gotta work on this one. All good though. A great day on the water followed by a good time at JD’s new restaurant “The Dock”.

That’s all for now, but here’s what’s coming up:


10-12 July – San Francisco
12-23 July – China
July 23-25 – St FYC dinner send off & pre-games ‘processing’ (credentials and team gear for opening Olympic Ceremonies)
25 July -August 1st – San Francisco , relax with Sally
August 1st – China
August 8th – Opening ceremony in Beijing
August 14th – Practice race
August 15-23 – Racing for Star Class
August 25th – Return home

August 26th – Sleep for one month straight….

Later

Austin