Ahhh, the denouement. Let me first ask that you forgive the love-letter tone of this missive to you, but in fact, it may be a love letter. It’s been a month and change since we last were together. Seems like years. You’ve left an indelible impression on me, your fellow alumni, and maybe the world. Yes, I said the world. Is it too much to imagine? I say no. Perhaps it’s the scotch talking, but I don’t think so.

Thinking back on the first half of 2013, I can’t help but laugh at us. The gall! The nerve! The moxie we didn’t even know we had! Jesus H. Christ, we didn’t even know each other! Complete unreasonableness! The absurdity of it all!

We...
We were a fleet.
We were implausible, we were impractical.
We were thrown together online with some emails and a PayPal account.
We were totally improbable, some said impossible.

But you…
You are souls aflame.
You are insane, you are incendiary.
You are straight-faced, unblinking, eyes wide-open, legends in your own time.
You are absolutely incredible – in fact, you’re incroyable. ;)

We did what we did because of YOU.

By the way, there is something very special about you – you know that, right? You closed your eyes and leapt. People lie silent all over the world each night, eyes trained on a spot on the ceiling, wishing they could do the same. Wishing they could just close their eyes and leap. The heart – my heart – it just sort of breaks for them. They don’t know what it is to be free. But you do.

Now you really must forgive me for the sap; this love letter is getting out of control. But there’s something else I have to tell you. You may have heard of the Australian woman, a writer, named Bronnie Ware who spent several years caring for dying people in their homes. She wrote a book called “The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying.” Before it was a book, it appeared as an article on HuffPo. In short, here’s the list:

I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
I wish I didn't work so hard.
I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Amazingly, I have a solution for each of these! YL, YL, YL love-letter, YL FB group, YL. Most interestingly, it turns out nobody on their deathbed wishes they’d spent more time at the office! I’m not saying chuck it all. I’m just saying LIVE. Moderation is a fuck-ton more difficult than living at the extremes because it takes intellectual horsepower and a willingness to constantly make decisions. It’s hard! But you people have figured it out. You know how to LIVE. You’re rare birds. And you are an inspiration.

That is what I’ve learned from you. To be free. That is exactly the gift, the permanent mark, you’ve left on YACHTLEGEND. You made us what we are. The inaugural fleet can never be replaced. What you lent us is the magic sauce, the essence of what The Big Game is all about:

Be Free. Be a Legend. Just Say Yes. Close Your Eyes. Leap.

Full-Time 4 Eva,

Lisa1

p.s. See you in London 2-3 November! YL Reunion!