Team Odyssey Day 2 Paralympic Sailing Races 3, 4 & 5 Hi folks! Well yesterday was rough...  And I don't refer to the sea state.  With overall finishes of tenth, sixth and twelfth, we had a day that doesn't live up to our standards.  At times like this, it's imperative that the team remain calm, determined and focused.  The biggest defeat we could suffer would be to let this situation get the best of us and give up.  So!  We'll remain positive and look forward to showing you all what we can do on the water.  We know that we have the speed and know-how to succeed and "hardware" might not be out of our grasp.  We're a mere 13 points out of medal contention.  Not a small margin, but with six races to go, anything can happen.  Some may recall our early disappointment at the 2007 World Championship.  We later came back to win that regatta. You can find all the results here: http://www.sailing.org/downloads/disabledsailing/INF__SAX002000C74A___________006000PENG2008090915561700000000059.pdf  Please note that these scores do not reflect the latest standings.  ISR was disqualified from a second race which changes the scores slightly, moving us up a spot and giving us 26 points total. Despite our poor performance, it was a beautiful day on the water.  The wind was out of the south-south-east at 4-7 knots with regular oscillations of 30 degrees.  But though shift in wind direction was important, the dominant factor was velocity.  Upon reflection, the key to victory was patience.  We found ourselves chasing the wind around the course and staying in the middle (a potential deadly place to position yourself in light winds).  In every race we were in the hunt at times, rounding the top mark in the top four in two of the races.  But we had difficulty holding our position and continued to slip backward.  Today is a "reserve" day.  Had we not completed the scheduled five races, we'd be on the water, but we're right on track thanks to excellent race committee work.  The team has used this time differently.  Some are with their families.  Others are exploring Qingdao.  I, on the other hand, have just curled up with a book and written this email to all of you! So the team will be in high spirits tomorrow.  With a passing cold front, we'll look to a new breeze.  Forecasts have it shifting to the northeast with moderate pressure.  These conditions can be tricky as we learned in May, but we've trained in similar breeze all summer.  We hope for great success! One final note: two-and-a-half weeks ago, we were joined by NPR reporter, Craig Lemoult during one of our practice sessions.  He recorded interviews, boat work and on-the-water training ("Out on the water, coach Betsy Alison rides along side in a small motor boat, blowing a whistle and barking instructions.").  We hear you barking, Betsy!  Anyway, I'm not exactly sure if the piece aired yesterday morning or will be on this morning, but tune your dials to your local NPR affiliate for "Morning Edition."  If you miss it, you can find the text version here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94411025.  The audio should become availalbe soon, but at the time of this writing, it was not yet available. Thanks for all of your supportive emails!  I look forward to writing after tomorrow's racing. -Tim, Bill & Ricky