“Andrew is a hero,” said my son, Ian, as we packed up from a great day on the water Super Bowl Sunday. “I’ve never seen anyone try so hard for so long. He never gave up. I thought he was amazing”
I thought, “That’s my son talking.” Sometimes it isn’t the winner, the best, the fastest guy on the water who inspires us. It was Andrew, who has dedicated himself to becoming a better sailor and bringing the fun week after week. The circumstances were this: Sunday was blustery and cold, with about 13 knots gusting in out of the North. The air and water temperatures were chilly. Seven sailors showed up, and five were racing, all of the series favorites. A bit of rain in the forecast didn’t help the turnout.
And Andrew took a bath, early on, with a gust-induced death roll. He got stuck trying to get things sorted and get up, and then got cold. But he never gave up, and never gave in. And he kept a happy and cheery outlook even as he asked for a bit of assistance. The group cut the racing short to lend support and get the cold guy back to some onshore warmth. It was a good moment for Hampton Roads Sailing, when the camaraderie we have developed showed itself to be more important than the competition.
Oh yeah, and we got two races in. It was an interesting day with the wily Doug Keiler heading toward a day of domination. Doug was picking the shifts and getting the starts from early on. The results were as follow:
| Place | Sailor | Race 1 | Race 2 | Total |
| 1 | Doug Keiler | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Neil Ford | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Mike Moore | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | Robert Suhay | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | Andrew Newbold | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 8 | Andrew Molitor | 6 | DNF | 13 |
| 9 | Frank Patch | DNS | DNS | – |
ILCA-NA District 11 