So we scored a DFL in the overall ranking of the Open Dutch Sailing Championships 2019, meaning: Dead F**ing Last. That is a nouveauté for me. Passion for performance is more what typifies me, I thought. But my son teaches me how to enjoy sailing and through that, life.
During the races it became clear to me that my anti-gout diet made me loose weight, all the fruit and veggies are supposed to make me healthy again. But the lack of proteins didn’t do my muscles much good. I was wondering why my wetsuit was so wide around the thighs. But it wasn’t my wetsuit that went wide over the years I realised when I came knackered from the water after sailing three races. My musculature must have had a hard time the past weeks although I cycled a lot to get me fit. There was little physical strengths left in me.
In the past it would have been impossible for me to skip a race and go early to the shore, no matter what. This weekend we skipped two. I made almost every race a mistake and with the short courses we didn’t find the opportunity to get back. But the last race we sailed, we were third. ‘Let’s enjoy this moment and get back to shore after we performed best,’ commented my son. I was hesitating big time. Literally I turned the bow to the shore, back to the start, to the shore again and sailed in the wrong direction for shore or start. In the end I gave in and we went back. With a nice memory and a wonderful picture by Klaas Wiersma. We did well together.