The DragonFlite 95 remote-control high-performance sailboat arrived in a big, long box at my home just as the COVID-19 pandemic upended our lives with stay-at-home orders. Here in Rhode Island, early March is nothing special in terms of outdoor activities, so once spring sailing got canceled, I adapted, teaching myself to splice and staying fit on my bike. Another thing on my quarantine to-do list was to build the DragonFlite, which sat for weeks next to my bedroom-turned-office desk before being moved to the closet, out of sight, for another day.
And then summer came. Real sailing returned. Day by day, my evenings got busier: Laser racing on Monday nights, family sails on Tuesday nights, and eventually, by late June, J/24 racing with the homies. All of this was good…