Ramblings from Spain

rti 07

Originally uploaded by digitallust.

I stumbled across this photo today, and just had top share!

You can imagine the scene, you’ve just come to the end of a four year struggle to successfully organise a major global sporting event, no doubt with weeks of tying loose ends up still ahead; no sooner is the cup held aloft do you learn that you’ve got to do it all over again, only this time in a 2 year time frame… then news reaches you that there’s a court action challenging your every decision, so things are going to be even more complicated. The good news is you’ve pretty much spent the past 4 years accumulating all that you need for the next campaign, so you don’t have to worry about that. At the very least, you’d think your boss would let you hang on to your desk and chair to work from.

But this is the America’s Cup, and there’s sponsorship money to squander. So you decide to arrange an auction of everything that’s beginning to look a bit tatty - perhaps you have a new colour scheme in mind for the office, or you simply see an opportunity to rid the organisation of that golf buggy you might have accidentally ‘pranged’ on one of those cerveza-fuelled late night races around the car park.

Hilarious! Follow the link below for more.

So whats the big deal? The auction is real, check it out here: http://www.32acauction.com/

Source: The Afterguard: The America’s Cup - There’s Everything to Pay For

We managed to finish third overall in the “IX Semana Asturiana de Vela”, so a podium finish for the second year running!

Here’s a brief summary of how the three days went for us, for anyone interested!

Friday

Race 1: 2nd
Race 2: 3rd

We gave our new sails their official debut, and we went pretty well. Race 1 saw us leading around the windward mark, but we slipped back a place going downwind and never managed to claw it back.

Our start in race 2 was a shocker! To get back up to third was a good effort, but you can’t afford to start from the back and win!

Saturday

Race 3: 5th
Race 4: 5th

A frustrating day. We seemed to find all the holes in the wind, and my attempt at tuning of the mast to better fit our new sails didn’t help. I wasn’t happy with how well the boat was pointing on Friday, so had looked to get a little more bend to flatten the main, but I think we went with the rig too tight in the end.

Both races gave further evidence that our starts are an area to work on. Enough said!

Sunday

Race 5: 3rd

Sunday’s format was slightly different from the previous two days, a longer course, and sailing with the big boats. This made for some interesting moments! We got a reasonable start (for a change!), and we had good speed and we pointing well, after further playing with the rig tension. With hindsight we made the mistake of not covering (arguably!) the quickest boat when we should have, allowing him to get ahead picking the shifts better than we did. Having said that, another 500m of track, we’d likely have caught them, as downwind we were quick.

So, all in all, three good days of sailing, despite the light winds. I’ll post links to any photos I find.

Update: Photos added!

We’re really chuffed to have new sails in time for the next regatta this weekend!

More to come, including photos!

Update: Photo added!

You only get one life, so paint it in bright colours.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston

Via the beeb

A little late in posting this, but last Saturday, I and a few friends took part in the “V Regata de Carnaval” hosted by the Real Club Astur de Regatas, which we managed to win the 595 class dressed up in Chinese outfits!

The turnout was a little poor, despite the day being great considering the weather we have had lately. We were second on the water, but the result was combined with a judging of our costumes.

Anyway, my second sailing trophy, a little different from the norm!

There are a few more photos I’ll try to get hold of and post.