The Closing Blog

Greetings race fans! I realize it’s a long shot that any of you will be checking our blog for more news. The Trials ended over a month ago. But you know my recent fascination with long shots. I just wanted to bring closure to the adventure of Team Breault-Williams. You probably know that we finished 4^th of the 5 teams competing for the Women’s 470 spot on the US Olympic Team. We posted a lot of 10^th place finishes in the mixed fleet regatta. Those watching might say we were better competitors around the race course than our points attest to. We were satisfied with our performance. We knew we were the 4^th best team there. We hoped for some exciting finishes, more in the mix, but we had some victories that lay beyond numbers and points. We were fast, especially in big breeze. We nailed sets and gybes, and the ominous last leeward mark-rounding of the outside trapezoid course! We had moments of brilliance and we relentlessly chased the boats within reach. In the end, our competitors and the coaches present congratulated us on our successes and encouraged us to keep racing the 470.

Casey and I pondered the idea of continuing. Perhaps we still are pondering, as it looks like the 470 will remain in the 2012 Olympic Games. However, for now we are hanging up our wetsuits and planning to sell the boats and equipment we have. We have some things to do before 2012 arrives. We have already emerged from our telephone booth as Casey, the civil engineer, and Nicole , the teacher-on-sabbatical.

We want to thank everyone out there who supported us in this endeavor and who cheered us on through it all! Happy Thanksgiving!