A slight change in plans

Brooklyn, NY - I'm not going to cover every detail of the past two months. However, for the purposes of my story, I will say this: Antonio is certifiable. He and I exchanged dozens of emails about our plans for the race - acquiring the boat, the sponsorships to equip it, the training schedule on the French coast. Then suddenly, in August, he stopped responding to my emails. He had been staying at the estate of our main sponsor, a jewelry manufacturer from Monaco, when he started to lose grip on reality. He had intended to crew on a brand new Open 60 in the Rolex Fastnet Race, but the Jeweler said he was mentally unfit, and withdrew his name. It turns out that Antonio's family has a history of adult-onset schizophrenia.

I received an email from him after repeated entreaties by internet and phone, and he finally wrote me a strange missive - about magic keys, protective honey, gypsy camps across the river, a powerful waterwheel from which he draws power.

His father flew to retreive him, and he's since been diagnosed and treated in Barcelona. Because I'm a lucky sonuvabitch, and tenacious when I want to be, I secured a co-skipper spot on the Polarity Solo, captained by a nice fellah name Paul Metcalf. It didn't occur to me until a few days later that I had been recruited enter a race for which I'm just slightly underqualified by a madman. So what does that make me?