Saying yes to an unexpected call

The Ficker Cup is the gateway for the Congressional Cup, a World Championship event on the World Match Racing Tour. Held the week prior, the top two from the Ficker Cup advance, and a young sailor from Australia, Tom Picot, was making his debut. The problem, however, is he needed six crew to sail the Catalina 37 in Long Beach, CA.

In this Latitude 38 report, Marissa Mae shares how she became the solution:

I was sitting at dinner when my phone lit up.

“How much do you weigh — and are you in town this week?”

The call was from Ryan Sanders. He was talking with Tom Picot, who needed a last-minute foredeck for the Ficker Cup [April 23–24]. They were looking for 190 pounds. I’m 129. A week later, I was on the boat.

That’s the part everyone sees. What they don’t see is the five years before that.

For nearly five years, I tried to get into match racing in a real way. Rankings, events, teams — it always felt just out of reach. Not because I couldn’t sail, but because there wasn’t a clear path in. Especially in the US. Especially if you weren’t already part of a program. Especially if you weren’t willing to wait.

So I stopped waiting. – Full report