Good Practice..

Three great days of laser practicing in Marina del Rey.. We had in some of the best conditions I've ever sailed up here! Winds were a brisk at 14-18knots all three days. Frightening huge waves covered the ocean. My laser (14') seem like a cork in a big bathtub. I mean these were really big waves! Sailing in breaking ocean wave made it extremely challenging for all sailors both upwind and down. Some great surfing brought my boom to the middle of the boat more then once. All in all it was big grins for everyone. Our group consisted of Vann & I out practicing for our LMW.. Terrance, Sumeet, Michael and Sanjai were out getting ready for the Laser Nationals at California Yacht Club that starts on Thursday. Unfortunately the two events overlap and I won't be able to sail the Nationals at my home yacht club. But my boat is all loaded and I'm ready to go! Three more days of work and I'm off! The excitement is building!!!

Good to Go!

I've been cleared by my doctors.. got in some training.. gained 10lbs for the bay.. now it’s time to race again!

I'll be competing in the 2011 Laser Master Worlds in San Francisco hosted by Saint Francis Yacht Club next week for seven days. I’m excited to get back out on the water in my laser in the event we call “The Show”. It was less than a year ago at Hyland Island, UK where I badly fractured my collar bone at the Laser Masters Worlds. Much credit needs to be given to DISC Sports and Spine Center for doing a fantastic job of getting me back out on the water and able to compete at my sport at this high level. Thank you to Dr. Robert Bray, Jr. and Dr. Andrew Bulczynski and the entire DISC team for expertly performing my surgery and overseeing my recovery.

In this recent X-Ray you can see my titanium plate that is still in. More importantly you can see my collar bone is almost one solid color which means the bone has fused together nicely. The plate and all eight screws are tentatively scheduled to come out in October.

Check back here for more updates,

Peter

DROID!

Repair Complete!

Under the expert hands of Dr. Andrew Bulczynski my injury is on the mend. The surgery took 1 hour at our D.I.S.C. facility in Marina del Rey, California. I was also incredibly fortune to also have World renown surgeon, head of D.I.S.C. and good friend Dr. Robert Bray assisting on the operation. I was in good hands to say the least! I had my surgery on September 24 and now a month later I feel like I’m ready to race again! But it’s still only been four weeks out from the surgery and my bones need 6-8 weeks to truly fuse back together.

What I truly walk away from my whole Laser Master Worlds experience in England is how incredible the people are in this unique niche of sailing.. Master Laser Sailing. I had guardian angels all around me in my time of need from start to finish. Lauralee Symes, Bill Symes, Dr. Rob Hobson, his wife Marilyn were all more than my best friends before, during and after this all happened. But it was everyone involed with this regatta from all different countries who stepped up without being asked to help me out. From driving me to the hospital, to fully un-rigging and returning my charter boat, to carrying my bags back and forth… God bless Lauralee and Marilyn packing my bags (I brought a lot of stuff)! My host family, Monica and Trevor treated me like their own family and opened their home to me. My sister Trish and her husband Harvey drove to Hayland Island to get me back to London and on a plane. It was a humbling experience to have so many friends come to my aide. Thank you all.. just don’t try to cross me on port ;-)

Racing Continues...

Best of luck to all my Laser friends out on the water today. Winds look to be a perfect 10-14 knots in cloudy but sunny skies.
This photo is from yesterday's full rig master standard fleet.

Interviewed...

Early Exit...

Unfortunately my Laser Worlds is over prematurely. I broke my collar bone today. I was going from the beach to the boatyard hopping over rocks carrying the my camera while getting ready to rig my boat. Going up the rocks I tripped and stumbled. I ended up falling into the front of a trailer hitch parked at the top of the rocks. My two good friends from Portland drove me to the closest hospital for X-rays. I’m on strong pain killers at the moment and will try to sleep tonight. I'll decide what to do for the rest of the week in the morning. I’m ok but disappointed.. Peter

Too much wind at the moment...

Way too much wind to race at the moment! An AP over A flag is flying from the yacht club which means "do not launch" or "do not leave the harbor". 380 sailors are anxiously awaiting the call to go. It's a solid 22-25 knots out on the race course with higher gusts to 30s.

More details later.