At first glance... By Charles Kaska

At first glance, everything we see is through our "lens" of our prior knowledge to fill in the gaps

At first glance Siboney is questionable.

It is not young, sleek, glassy, or shinning.

Six decades on the water are viewed as a liability of age rather than a testament of endurance.

All wood hull is seen as high maintenance, rather than a proud heritage of quality materials.

A seldom seen design is viewed as odd, outdated, strange, rather than individualistic and unique.

Not advertised on TV or magazines, or blogged about, give a person no social cues to pass judgment of popularity or fame.

Questions of ability, skill, strength structural integrity, mount like a rising tide. Nothing proven, just our first impression.

And so it is with sailors at first glance.

Any characteristic out of the preconceived ordinary at first glance is suspect to criticism.

A sailor without the physique of a grinder, the balance of a cat, the demeanor of a calculating attorney, the motivation of the possessed and the attitude of a warrior, may seem at first glance not quite up to par as a "true sailor"

Perhaps the only way to form an opinion about Siboney is to experience her on the water and judge her by her performance.

And so it is with Argo Challenge Sailors.

Argo Challenge is seeking sailors based on performance, not on their first glance looks, first impressions, media reputation, or uncommon physical attributes.

Siboney is a dinghy of dignity, a vessel of value, a sloop of stability that can have immediate value in the hands of innovative people.

Argo sailors have dignity, value, stability, and immediate value to the Argo Challenge bid for The America's Cup campaign.

Artwork by Harold Miller

Help the Argo Challenge save and acquire its craft of anology by contacting Christian Giannini, CFO Argo Challenge, or by making an online contribution to the Argo Challenge during the final two weeks of March. The Argo Challenge website will be capable of accepting contributions online on March 15, 2011. We will have two weeks to meet our Challenge within the Challenge.

WeCanUCan!