OCTOBER 2003
The end of all the leisurely fun sailing in
Greece and time for some more racing this time, so on to the
South of France and Italy for the annual classic boat racing. We
had to be in Italy (Sardinia) and than onward to the South of
France. In 2003 Sylphe takes part in three races : Porto Cervo,
Cannes and St. Tropez.
But first we had to get from Paxos in Greece
to Porto Cervo on North Sardinia. Over the last years this has
always proven the most difficult and/or unpredictable part of the
Med, and I never really look forward to it. It is against the
prevailing wind and hardly any shelter at hand. We had two weeks
to cover the “only” 600 miles, but still…… It
all started already wrong. The engine would not come up to its
normal revolutions, so we checked the propeller for ropes, the
diesel filters for clocked up filters and the normal other stuff,
but nothing wrong. As this was definitely a step beyond my
knowledge, I decided to call the mechanics. Being on the small
island of Paxos this is not the easiest and services are limited.
After a two hour inspection by the local guy, who could find
nothing special, I called upon Vagelis in Athens and we decided
that it must be the turbocharger. The only part of the engine to
which my manual refers: “very delicate and only to be
serviced by knowledgeable people”. So, we took Sylphe gently
to Corfu town, took the turbocharger off and under my arms and
took a plane to Athens (it would the first night in 534 nights
that I would NOT sleep on Sylphe). Only to discover the next
morning in the shop of the “knowledgeable people” that
there was nothing wrong with the turbocharger…. Took plane
back to Corfu, installed it again, but the engine was –surprise-
still malfunctioning. Three days had passed by and our deadline
for Porto Cervo was coming closer and we still had achieved
nothing. I became desperate. More mechanics and more testing and
no results. I hate to see those blank eyes of the service
mechanics when they look at you, with that look: “Well, I do
not know anymore either….!” Finally a guy told us that
it MUST be the fuel transferpump. The problem was…… in
order to take the fuelpump out, we had to lift the whole engine
UP first….no easy operation……..(no acces to this
part of the engine in Sylphes engineroom). So, I suggested that
they take the injectors out first to see if those were okay (they
are okay, they ALL said to me). After testing those it turned out
that all 4 of them were blocked. So problem found, 4 new ones
ordered in Athens and the engine could remain in place……..
6 days after the search we were happily on our way to Porto Cervo.
As usual, we passed the whole boot of Italy
and this time we did not even stop in Messina (after all they
stole our complete flag pole last year!!), but went straight on
to Lipari-island. No wind for 300 miles, but the diesel was doing
great again. Lipari is a beautifull stop and a place worth the
visit. The thunderstorms and rains of the next consecutive days
we took for granted, and were spectacular. We never saw the sky
lit with horizontal !!! lightning before. The clock remained
ticking and so we had to get on our way. The meteo showed a small
whole in the persistant NW wind and thus we took of. The waves
were still against us, but there was no wind….as usual. 20
hours in our trip, I had my birthday and we happily celebrated
opening birthday presents at 7 in the morning. Marit had taken
advantage of me being in Athens with the turbocharger to do some
secret shopping. Later that day I made a nice diner and by
nightfall, I had itches in my stomach (NO, not my cooking). The
wind had started picking up, but from the opposite side as
forecasted. During the night it increased and sailing under
staysail and yankee we were doing a leisurely 6 knots. The only
worrying part were the waves….they were getting bigger. When
the sun finally broke through, we could see why…. Visibility
was down to 1 mile with SAHARA DESSERT SAND all around. Red was
the sky, the deck, the sails. There must have been a serious
storm over Libya, because the wind had brought all this sand over
a distance of more than 500 miles. The waves were still some 2,5
- 3 meters high and definitely uncomfortable. The wind was around
25 – 30 knots, nothing to worry about, but these waves…….
At 7.30 in the morning the whole boat was covered in water with a
wave crashing straight down into the cockpit. Still happy that we
have all the cushions, as everything went floating and the water
went down the companionway and into the saloon……by the
thousands……… Half an hour later, mess just cleared
and just wearing a new pair of dry trousers, we got hit by a
second one. Marit (inside on a bunk) disappeared out of my vision
by a big, big curtain of water streaming down into the saloon.
Again the whole cockpit floated and I gave up on putting any dry
clothes on. 6 hours later we rounded the cape of Porto Rotondo
and were away from the “washing machine”. Back in known
territory and safe waters. Still two days before the charter in
Porto Cervo, so -once again- we had made our deadline……….
The race-week in Porto Cervo was the first
week of racing of this season and Thomas and gang joined me as
clients for this week in the beautiful surrounding of Porto Cervo.
The weather was not helping, but still we had some spectacular
sailing. The first day, we completely missed out on the start,
due a failure on my side: 5 minute procedure instead of the usual
8 minutes, but we definitely made up on the starts over the next
days. The sailing was superb, 20 knots of winds and so many
familiar boats around, makes it a joy to be out there on the
water. Irina VII was a boat of friends of ours….just
launched three weeks before the race. Solway Maid, White Dolphin,
Oiseau de Feu and others were a joy to see again. New comer on
the circuit this year is definitely ELEONORA, the enormous 41.50
meter long replica of the Westward form 1909. Owned by the
charming Dutchman Ed Kastelein, who became an instant friend. I
even had the privilege to go out sailing with her one afternoon,
that trip will stay for a long time, but Eleonora is definitely
beyond my league, or desire for that matter.
All in all we had three days of racing with
perfect wind conditions, and only one day cancelled. I will never
forget the thursday race, with Avel, Shenandoah, Eleonora and
others all at very close distance trying to make the windward
mark. It gave some splendid views of the other boats and crews.
The on-land activities in Porto Cervo were nothing to compare to
Imperia, Cannes or the other races, and indeed of such a poor
quality, that I decided to officially complain about it. This
letter was apparently widely distributed (way beyond my intention)
and we will see if Porto Cervo ever will host the classic races
again……..if it is up to us….NO WAY. The richest
yacht club in the world gave the poorest performance, we have so
far met. Bye, bye Porto Cervo, VIVA IMPERIA.
Onward it went, with still two weeks before
we had to be present for the 25th edition of Cannes,
this year however without JPO (Jean Pierre Odero, the founder of
this event, who had unexpectedly died in January. JPO and his
charming wife VINCKA became instant friends 4 years ago, when we
first showed up on the Classic Race Circuit). As an homage to JPO
we wanted to be present more than ever. Marit and I sailed up the
coast of Corsica, this time the east coast, and I must say….amazing,
I never seen such sandy beaches, mile after mile…. A pitty
that there is hardly any shelter or marina on that coast, but it
is certainly spectacular to sail past. We stayed a couple of days
in Bastia, where we worked on getting our onboard internet and
email working again. We finally sailed on to Calvi and than
onward to Cannes. Back “home” after a year, and we had
logged 4.600 miles since we had left last year. Not bad for a
Mediterranean season.
The race week in Cannes was special as
always….. JPOs memory was never far away as the starts were
more difficult than other years. Hesitant by the committee, a
starting line more difficult to take on port, etc. JPO was called
upon several times, in vain…we just hoped he watched from
above. Thank god, we had a large part of our usual “crew”.
But we severely missed Ruud and Marjan (traffic jam victims),
Daniel, and my Tactician Tophe. But we managed, with
reinforcements in the form of Andrea and Andrea, Freddy, Carl,
Vincka, Laurence and others . The second race-day was cancelled,
but only after all boats were out on the water, and the start was
delayed ….and delayed. The wind picked up and eventually two
boats had a collision (Moonbeam and Gaulois), resulting in the
sinking of the smaller vessel. Two people in hospital. This is
what happens, when boats are kept too long out there, the crews
loose concentration and accidents happen. A sad day for Cannes.
Two days later was even worse with another accident in the
buildup to the start between Agneta and Blue Peter. Two very
aggressive boats and two potential winners. They were both
simply too hungry for a good position and start. Agneta dismasted
(!!) and Blue Peter with serious damage to boom and crew. More
people in hospital. It is not all fun. The event finished however
in the usual good atmosphere, but the caution is –temporarily-
back with all the skippers. Too bad that we first need to have
accidents, before we realize that we are playing with crew,
clients, and material that is not easily replaced………..
There will be some more discussions this winter about the future
of this “”racing”. Lets please go back to “getting
together” and behave “gentlemanlike” and forget
about competition. The competition is on land, with cars, speed,
stress, money, etc. Out there on the water with all these
gracious boats, it should be different…….
We’ll see.
So, onward to St. Tropez for the last week
of racing of this season. The usual Cannes to St. Tropez race was
done with an overcastted sky, rain and winds up to 30 knots. Not
at all pleasant. However the arriving in St. Tropez is always
special. The crowds, the old port and the line up in harbor is
impressive. The shore events and atmosphere make it unique in its
own class. As usual Sylphe had an honor position on the main dock
and that adds to the fun by being right in the middle. We raced
this week with a crew of youngsters, as a client had cancelled at
the very last moment. So the crew was rounded up on the very last
moment, but that added only to the fun. Patrick, Greg, Andrea,
Jean, Michel, Benjamin, Roch, Frans en Bert formed the core.
Others joined us for the day. The first day saw very little wind,
which resulted again in having all the boats waiting outside for
2,5 hours. When the start was finally given, there was still
hardly any wind, but we were at least on our way. While coming
back to the finish line under spi, we were informed over the VHF
that the finish line would close at 6 PM. We still had at least
1,5 hour to go, but it was already 5.30. We were out there on the
water with at least another 45 boats, who also would never be
able to make it on time. The requests to the committee to keep
the finish open till 7 PM were not honored, resulting in some
serious complaining over the VHF. The finish line closed at 6,
with only 5 boats in our class finished. The others were still,
like us, on their way. As a silent protest we sailed on and made
it to the finish around 7….disqualified after all, but happy
that we made it. The next day brought too much wind, resulting in
everyone staying in port….except a few ones: L’iliade (dutch),
Lelantina, Owl and Sylphe (dutch) went out and we had a thrilling
sail in huge seas. The crazy Dutch do it again.
The Thursday is kept, by tradition, for a
private day of sailing and the opportunity to have your personal
challenge with another boat. You get an official start and you
can challenge any boat on the circuit. Sylphe and Nagaina have a
two year long battle to settle, so this was going to be the day
to do that. We both had a great start and were never far way from
each other. At the upwind mark we were ahead, but the race is
never won until the finish line is passed. The wind picked up and
we definitely had to change sails, take down the genua and get
yankee and staysail up. This sail change gave Nagaina the
possibility to overtake us and they rounded the buoy first…and
now on our way to the finish. Both running under spinnaker, the
closest match racing followed for the next hour. Maximum two boat
lengths distance between the two of us and a constant tactical
battle was fought. Gybing, trying to cover each other and running
away…….. it did not help either one of us. We made a
last and genius move, by forcing Nagaina too far up the coast and
gybed away in clear air and made it first over the finish line.
What a drama and what a race………….
The Friday in St. Tropez, brought sunshine
and an ideal wind. The racing on this day was the best of all the
racing weeks and it was a joy to race towards the finish line,
where Sylphe was photographed arriving in front of the old St.
Tropez town (this magnificent photo –compliments of Dorus)
will feature on the website, page Special Events).
During this race we lost a man overboard,
during the attempt to get the spinnaker down…. We normally
take the spinnaker down in the lee of the genua, making this a
relatively easy task. However, today, the wind played tricks on
us and the spinnaker caught wind again, while being lowered. The
crew trying to take the spinnaker onboard decided to let go of
the sheet and the sail, but NOT Jean. He held on. So, Jean went
flying out to sea and landed bodysurfing on the waves some 5
meters outside the boat. Luckily he kept holding on to the sheet
and by steering Sylphe even more upwind, Jean simply stepped back
onboard, as the wind brought the spinnaker and Jean back to the
boat. Quite an event and we had a good laugh about it afterwards.
The mistral started blowing that night, so
Saturdays race was cancelled with 35 knots of wind. A race week
with only 1,5 race run……not the best result, but that
remains the weather…….
We are back in Cannes, Marit is back in
India and we are hopefully on our way to the Festival du Vent in
Calvi, by the end of this week. And, as you know from previous
Telltales, the Festival du Vent remains my really favorite event
of the year. The season is not yet finished…….
Roland and Marit
SYLPHE