Sept. 2, 2001

West River Yacht Club

Gale,

We really enjoyed having you. Thank you very much for coming to West River and spreading your magic around. There was quite a bit of enthusiastic talk about you all weekend and many compliments on your presentation. They were enthralled by you and your goals.

I even have a couple of our junior girls waiting to track your course on the internet. When I cautioned them they may have to translate from French, they said, "Oh, no problem. We already know French" - 10-year-olds! Where have I been? I'm going to count on them to translate for me! Actually, Kathy and I spoke about this at AYC this evening and we're going to suggest to these girl's parents and teachers that they make a class project out of tracking the race on the web - in French.

I gave Kathy another envelope from the club and the burgee which is loaded with signatures. I greatly appreciate you making the effort to carry that to France and fly it at the expo - what a wonderful idea. I hope Kathy gets a good picture of it as it will have a place of honor in the club and on our website.

You have made many new friends in West River and we'll be cheering for you all the way. Win, lose or draw, you're a winner in our book.

Sail fast. Sail safe. And enjoy.

Pete