Sometimes you can be so close to accomplishing a goal that you can taste and feel it ... then it's gone and you feel like you are back at square one all over again. This is how I felt on my way back home from Round 2 of the F1H2O World Championship in Portimao, Portugal.

I traveled there with high hopes, feeling prepared and ready. And everything went well. We were consistently one of the fastest boats through practice and qualifying, and we were on the pole after the second qualifying session. We ended up qualifying sixth after making a few small mistakes in the third qualifying session.

During morning warm ups for the race, we made some corrections and had a great setup for the race. I got a good start but the first corner was a mess. I had a couple of close calls but got through it and came out of the first corner around fifth but made a good decision down the front and a lap later I was in third. I pushed at about 85 percent, just keeping pace with the top two knowing my opportunity would come.

The first opportunity came when I made a move on the second-place boat and was completing the pass as he was wrecking out of the race. I was now sitting in second with a majority of the race to run, but this was my first rolling restart with the pace boat—and I was actually lined up third because a lapped boat was in between Marit Stromoy (race leader) and myself.

My team talked about this situation in our morning meeting because we had not been involved in a restart yet. We had a plan and we executed the plan to perfection with a great restart. I went for the lead on the outside going through the second right hander. I got next to Stromoy and we were pushing to make it to the next corner where I would then have the inside.

Well this is that part that I was talking about earlier ... I was about to take the lead and the next second we touched and were both airborne in what has turned out to be one of the most talked about and spectacular powerboat wrecks that I can remember.

Before I go any further, I want to be on record saying that what happened was simply a racing accident. I don't believe it was either of our faults necessarily. You have fractions of a second to make decisions and honestly a lot of those decisions are not really thought out, they are more of a feeling and/or reaction. That is the part of racing that I love. Many times I am asked why did you go there or make a certain move a certain way, and sometimes I do not have an answer. It is just a reaction that is almost like breathing—you don't think about it, you just know you have to do it.

As a driver, my weakness is patience, and I know that. I consciously work on it all the time. I am to aggressive at times when I should just buy some time and wait for a better, less risky spot to make a pass. This is a fine line though because my aggressiveness is also one of my strengths. It is easy to play armchair quarterback now and look back and say, I should have waited or done this or that different. In the boat, you do not have that luxury. Fact is I was inches, not feet, from making the pass!

What has happened over the 36 hours following the wreck has been surprising to me in some ways. The first thing is that I am humbled by the support that I received through e-mails, messages and texts. For that I thank all of you because it really meant a lot.

On the other side were some things that bubbled to the surface that I did not realize were there. There was a lot of this is not America, you need to get in line and not be who you are as a driver rhetoric. To be honest, I feel that there are many that are not comfortable with an American coming to "their" series without much money and a six-year-old boat and competing to win races.

Let me be clear, I do not think the other drivers feel this way. I have had nothing but a good experience with them. It is more the people on the periphery. So in response to all those critics, I will not get in line! I will drive the way I promised my sponsors  and my team, which is 110 percent of every corner, lap, practice, qualifying and race. When I am in the boat I do not think about my budget or anything besides going forward. I expect more of myself and am harder on myself than anyone else could possibly be!

The last thing that has happened that I did not expect was all the press from it. The wreck was on the intro to SportsCenter, in newspapers and TV around the world and all over the net. While I would have rather won the race, at least all my marketing partners got some great exposure! Next round is in Russia on July 17 — you can follow us with live updates and streaming from the paddock at www.facebook.com/shauntorrenteracing, as wells watch the race live on F1H2O.com.