World Champions

Four years ago was a very special time for Carol and Kim with their Snipe career. So I thought is appropriate to repost my thoughts on that regatta.

Carol and Kim right after winning the Worlds

There are defining moments in life and this past week was one of those special moments. I had the honor to coach, and see my two favorite sailors win the Snipe Women’s World Championship. Carol Cronin and Kim Couranz who have been together as a team in the Snipe for eight years. Prior to that I also had the honor of coaching them in the Yngling.

Carol and Kim personify to me what it means to not only be World Champions, but also great teammates and knowing how to have fun every day. There are so many aspects of what it takes to win Worlds, but few have all the pieces. Great sailors yes, but so many qualities beyond great sailing. Perfect boat, fitness at the highest level, proper fuel, how to set up your boat, helping others, learning from the lows, doing something toward your goal every day, and of course “No Drama LLAMA”. That is only touching the surface, and why a World Championship is so special, and few achieve it.

Since you are reading my blog you are most likely a sailor and maybe even a racer. So you will appreciate that Carol and Kim were the only team out of the 32 teams that had all single digit scores, dropping a 7th.

Scoreline: 4,3,2,3,4,4,(7),4,3 27 pts. That is how you win a worlds. Sure winning races makes a huge difference in scores but not if your next race is a double-digit score.

On the second day of the regatta, fourth race they rounded the first mark in 17th and finished that race in 4th. After the race I told them it was the best race they sailed so far, both gave me the look. But if you think about it for two seconds it makes perfect sense. They saved 13 points by staying in the moment, and fighting back to fourth in a world’s fleet with the judges right on their tail the whole final run. That is what champions do.

The Snipe is a crew driven boat, and Kim Couranz is a super crew. smart, very fit, excellent with fuel, always two steps ahead, fun, knows how to tune a boat, fierce competitor, oh yea and a World Champion.

And Carol, well I have watched Carol race for a very long time, and raced with her for years. Cool when it hits the fan, fast, knows how to tune a boat, fierce competitor, always keeps it all in perspective, oh yea and a World Champion.

What a life special moment for me to see them win. Thank you ladies for letting me be a part of it.

To Read Carol’s Great Post on Five Lessons from a World Champion, Follow This Link.

Very Special moment
Don`t copy text or photos!