I made my first trip to Germany ever last weekend to make sure that 8077 made the trip across the Atlantic ok and to do some work on the new spar and backstay setup. It also gave me a chance to scope out Kiel so when we show up for the European Championship it will be a little more familiar. The best Star teams have already been sailing in Europe participating in the world cup series that started during the Miami OCR in January. This week the Delta Lloyd regatta in the Netherlands is taking place. Andy McDonald, Mark Mendalblatt, Andrew Campbell and George Szabo have all been sailing Stars in Europe this spring. Along with the great European Star sailors that are competing in the championship this will no doubt be the strongest competition I have ever sailed against.

In addition to sailing in Germany the boat will be traveling to Sweden for the world Championship in August. For my first time traveling to Germany I was very impressed with the country. I was able to spend a day in Hamburg. I spent most of the day walking around taking pictures of all the nice houses.

This weekend I am heading to Racine WI to rig up a borrowed Star so I can get back to training. Then the following week we are racing the first Chicago Match Race Center event. I am very excited about the event and I think we have a great opportunity to do well.