Dear Sir,

For far too long, the most buoyant part of Bermuda’s economy has been around my midsection.

It’s true. Stubbornly, and with little regard for my own wellbeing, I’ve been eating my feelings during this entire economic meltdown. On an island surrounded by water, I have become my own flotation device and this, I’m afraid, is not a good thing.

But something happened last week and I think, maybe, just maybe, I can at least lose the weight of the mental fatigue caused from our prolonged recession that has weighed my spirit down. The America’s Cup World Series gave me a kick just in time and exactly where I needed it.

Here’s what I loved. I loved that I couldn’t find a parking space in town for love nor money. I loved that the streets were so jam-packed that we were shoulder-to-shoulder and, as one woman pointed out to me, it’s the first time in years that she’s had to utter the words “excuse me” as she negotiated her way down Front Street.

I loved that our restaurants and local artisans pulled out all the stops and magically transformed Front Street into “Party Central” and did this, by the way, in a matter of hours. I loved the Kids Zone, especially the Kids Zone. I loved the noise, the disruption and constant enthusiasm that seemed to have enveloped everyone. It was the most exhilarating few days that Bermuda has ever experienced and the best news is that there’s more to come. I can’t wait. I bought cookies, I bought food and then more food, and I bought so much America’s Cup paraphernalia (size L-not too good) that I am now a walking, talking billboard for all things Bermuda and the America’s Cup.

I am a GNP inflator, thank you very much, and I am an unabashedly proud ambassador of our turquoise waters, our crazy pink sand that sticks to you everywhere, our Bermuda roofs and reverse osmosis “whatchamacallit”. Did you know that I am Jimmy Spithill’s real mother? Was it the champagne spray or did I just get a little carried away. Didn’t you?

Were there mistakes? There’s always mistakes when taking on an event of this magnitude. Kinks will need to be ironed out and better plans will need to be put in place. But before we weigh ourselves back down with what the America’s Cup might not have done for us personally, let’s take a step back and look at what it did for our hometown, Bermuda.

We just proved to the folks around the world that the crybabies who said our hosting the America’s Cup wouldn’t be appropriate — the same folks who said that we didn’t have the infrastructure, the sophistication, that we wouldn’t be able to move fast enough — were utterly and irrefutably wrong. Let’s keep the momentum going and stay focused on everything that we can accomplish together.

Yours sincerely,

ELAINE C. MURRAY

Smith’s