Turn a Blind Eye... Please?

The boat sat perfectly and in the back of my mind I knew that it probably wouldn’t last… the fate of the stroke rested in what I did in those next few moments.

The release had been near perfection and I could remember the feeling of the pressure suddenly disappear as my hands dropped, letting gravity work for me for a change. I went through my checkpoint checklist in my head as I continued to move seamlessly forward.

Gingerly, my hands floated away from me, the footprints swirling in on themselves as they disappeared into the distance. My body rocked gently over past my hips and I felt the seat shift back a little as my pelvis rotated my upper body forward. My legs continued the movement that my hands had started and the water began to sing on the hull as it slid underneath me, the contrasting movements complementing each other flawlessly.

I seemed to remain stationary for a moment as the shell covered the last of the distance up into the catch.

I prepared myself for the explosion to come, the quick change in direction as every fibre in my lower being would connect through my spine and relaxed arms, forcing the spoon to seize the rushing water and build the pressure again as my body unravelled towards the release. My wrists gently eased the spoons into their squared position and I looked up, keeping my eyes on the distant horizon and marvelled at the simple perfection of the journey to the other end of my single.

Where were the Laws of Physics? Had they decided to give me this one, to let off and hand me this one flawless stroke? Maybe they had… sweet.

I felt like a coiled snake ready to strike as I hit full compression and my hand lifted…

Oh crap…

The spoons entered too slowly and the force of the moving water flicked my port blade past feathered. The leading edge of the spoon caught and dived deep in a desperate bid for the depths and I glanced to my left to see the surface of the lake shoot closer as the water rushed up the loom, seeming intent on devouring the entire blade. My rigger followed an instant later and I felt an icy chill hit my face as the boat flipped.

It seemed a long time before the speed and momentum I had worked so hard towards crashed to a halt around me and the clamour of the water rushing past my head subsided. My feet released easily from the shoes and I tore past the surface.

I clung to the over-turned boat for a long time trying to catch my breath and face the reality of what had just happened.

Screw you Laws of the Universe! You couldn’t even give me that one measly chance! Gimme a break!

Slowly and after a long while I realised that it was my mistake. Perfection is perfect and that small slip-up was not - it didn’t have any place in the ideal stroke. My bad.

So I flipped my single over and clambered back on board. I would just have to try again… if the damn Will of the Cosmos would let me…