To race or not to race

The first triathlon of the season is a week from Saturday. The water is going to be cold and I don't own a wetsuit, nor do I have any intention of buying one (completely unnecessary for racing sprints and Olympic distance tris in Israel). I haven't done an open water swim with waves since September. There will be waves. So I'm asking myself, do I want to do this race?

The part of me that's hesitating s saying that the cold water will make it hard enough for me to swim and the waves can be scary at this time of year. The rest of me is saying:

• I've swum in cold water before. We did a workout in the pool in October when the water was something like 18 degrees (that's about 64 for you North Americans). It was cold, but did it, even getting in and out of the water multiple times.
• I can swim in waves. I used to be afraid, but I'm not anymore. I'm a relatively strong swimmer (relative to the other age group competitors over 40, that is). If everyone else can swim, so can I and if they don't cancel the swim, it's not too dangerous.
• I'll be disappointed if I skip the race and then hear about how great it was. I won't be sorry if I do it and it's awful -- I'll just have a story to tell afterwards (assuming I live through it...).

So do I race or not???