'Game of Inches: Masters Nationals, 2012' by Joe Abrams of the Dolphin Club, San Francisco
'Racing the heat' (Illustration: B. Kitch) The following is Part One of Joe Abrams's account of his trip to the 2012 Masters Nationals at Lake Quinsigamond: Driving West on I-90 in an oversized rental car, three thousand miles away from home, we were enjoying the freedom of a 4-day road trip. Marcus was his usual jovial, chatty self—the perfect antidote to my anxiety. We were still tired, feeling the effects of our red-eye flight two nights earlier, and it didn’t help that Marcus had stayed up till 4am the previous night, finishing up a project for work. But, after several cups of coffee, this morning’s trip from Cambridge to Worcester was going by quickly—we were absorbed in discussing our racing strategy. In truth, we knew exactly what we needed to do. Hundreds of hours and countless loops on Lake Merced in San Francisco had prepared us for this trip to take on the fastest boats in the country. Finding a parking spot along the road leading to Lake Quinsigam