We made a change and got in a good rhythm. I was happy just to see us hang with them, let alone win it.

We made it clear this year to know what the course was and exactly which buoys we had to turn on.

We thought last year we clearly won the race. We cleared the course this year and made sure we knew exactly what was going on because last year it was finicky with what they were telling us. We were on track and we ended up pulling it off, so we're happy.

It was a hard race; a lot of paddling, not too much surfing. But I didn't have the best day out there. I was kind of all over the place, so I know we can get faster.

There's definitely a change in demographics, and it's affecting us. Historically, the fire departments have been made up of blue-collar.

We want to show everybody we belong. Our record doesn't matter. All those losses prepared us for this.