Jerry Wertz is sixty-two and alone. Some days he feels good; some days he does not. His boyhood quest to sail a dinghy from Michigan to Wisconsin weighs on Jerry's mind. Present circumstances and old memories accelerate Jerry's contemplations, and he resolves to attempt the passage. Jerry plans and prepares for months, applying a lifetime of knowledge and experience to the fluctuating conditions. One late Summer morning, Jerry sets sail under the perfect conditions for which he patiently waited. "She Ran Before the Wind" pries into one man's determination to slake the longings of youth.