 It’s always a race, isn’t it? |
I’m pretty sure that I am going to run out of superlatives all week long as I try to describe just how it is down here in Nayarit, Mexico. Mostly, it’s full-on, over-the-top intense. I’ve already been telling you about the parties, but everything about this event, from measurement, to set-up, to race management, to practice racing, to the competition itself, is balls-out wild. I’m just in off the water after Day 1 of the World Championships, and I’m bruised and battered and totally psyched to go out tomorrow and kick some ass.
 The SA Nationals live on. |
I’ve had some negativity come my way over the last couple of articles I’ve written – and not from the usual whiney bastards. I received an e-mail this morning from Jose Alfredo Jimenez, who is the husband of the hot Mexicana that Mer photographed playing with the dog last week. Jose wrote (amongst other things) that if I don’t remove the picture, “Vas a tener la peor experiencia de tu vida en Mexico” which translates to “You will have the worst experience of your life in Mexico.” I guess Jose doesn’t know about the ten days I spent on the toilet in Puerto Angel, Oaxaca, or the time when a lovely woman in Los Cabos stole my passport and $1800 of a boat owner’s money from my pocket.
The second comment was something from the event Press Office, who asked that I write more about the racing and less about the drinking (They obviously don’t know me well either), but today’s racing was so damned good that I can’t help but write a few words about it. I think I’ll do a full report on the parties later this week – the Organizers are going absolutely insane and you just have to see the pictures of the fiestas they’re throwing for us.
 I like being an Australian… |
We woke up around 9 this morning, planning to get an early start on the water to test out some of the big rig changes we made just before the big party last night. Ex-Tornado sailor, top J/24 helm, and clandestine Anarchist Mike Ingham jumped on board and in about four seconds told us exactly why we had such a power problem, and 2 hours, 12 Coronas, 2 hacksaw blades, and a half dozen shims later we had the prebend we needed, and finally, a straight mast. We were late to the boat though, because after a half-dozen tequila shots last night, neither Mer nor I could remember where the hell we put her thousand-dollar Canon. Fortunately, some kind soul found it and turned it in to security, and a half-hour of running around had it on board, and team Aussie Millions/Rudy Project/Sailing Anarchy was off to the races.
We could
have left later. The afternoon seabreeze was struggling
to find itself, and shifts of 40 degrees meant three general recalls. One
start saw the first three rows OCS, with some crunching and yelling
in about 7 different languages. Finally the RC put up the Black
Flag of Death, and 
the fleet behaved itself except for one boat, I
think Canadian. We started in 8 knots of breeze, and our rig
was still a bit tight for it, but we were holding our lanes better
than during the practice race. We were somewhere in the middle
of the pack until a leeward mark rounding, when 7 boats called for
room. Going upwind requires some modicum of clear air, and we
never saw it again that race. We were a ping pong ball, and
our finish near the back was the result, although we did manage to
finish in front of Thierry (the owner of our chartered boat) aboard
Microsoft. There is some consolation in finishing ahead of him,
especially since he’s aboard a brand-new boat with some great
sailors aboard. The second race was better – we started
about two thirds of the way down from the boat, with
speed and height, and climbed up to the Argentinos to windward, who
tacked away. We
kept our lane and stayed in phase, but we were still a bit slow. The
first rounding was the most insane I’ve ever seen – there
were four or five boats that had to gybe around to get back into the
layline, and we were one of them – we were reaching across the
starboard tackers on port, and Tim somehow weaved his way between
three boat and flopped over just below TMZ racing and above the Chileans
(who were part of the tequila mess last night). Downwind lanes
were almost as tough as the
upwinds,
but we held off a few attackers to round just ahead of midfleet. The breeze built a bit, and
it was shocking to see just how alive the boat came when the wind
and rig tune were matching. We were in full-hike conditions
(we’re 80 pounds underweight) and we just kept marching up to
boats to windward – boats that we know are right at the weight
limit. The final leg, upwind to the finish, was spectacular
for us – we passed 8 boats or so (including Microsoft again),
as well as Sarah Buckley and her all-girl crew including match racer
Sandy Hayes and our old friend from the Melges class Laura Muma (Props
to that bunch, as they just got here yesterday and somehow, made it
onto the course today. I expect them to quickly move up as they
get the boat tuned – match racing skills will help out a lot
in this fleet, and they’ve got those skills in spades). A big
mess of boats at the finish dropped us a few places, as Toyota decided
they could tack onto starboard despite being about 8 feet to leeward
on port. Crash tacking is slow, and a few teams drove by as
we got going again, but AUS 193’s morale was way up as we crossed
the line. It’s such a relief to know that we have some
boatspeed, and we are looking forward to tomorrow when we can get
the rig working better in the lighter breeze that seems to reign until
around 3:00 when the seabreeze settles in. If you’re stuck
behind a computer, don’t forget to check out the live tracking
at the GlobalStar site – it
seems to be working pretty well. We’re bow number 20. The
VYC is working to get the results posted a bit quicker as well, so
we’ll try to get you the link asap.
The other all-girl team, go nenitas!
 Me like UBS…very much. |
I’ll be posting reports for you every day, right when we get off the water. I’ll also get more…um…in depth about the parties, since they are so unreal. I think almost any racer’s jaw would hit the floor if they saw what Leah Danielson and the VYC are doing for this bunch of complaining, spoiled brats from all over the world. It’s rumored that they’ve got around 600 grand (USD) from the various sponsors of the event, and they are doing their damnedest to spend every penny - we are just the lucky bunch who get to experience it. We’ve also got some good stories and pics from the official measurement, and a little travel tip about a place as anarchist as they come, just minutes from Puerto Vallarta.
FLASH – Flyfishingoz just told me that we had not one, but two 20% Z-flag penalties today, both on Race 1. They add the penalties to your finish position even if there’s a general recall, so we’re going to end up close to DFL for that one, but I know that the Bermudan blokes got the Black, so at least there’s that. Wish us luck for tomorrow.
-Mr. Clean, with photos from Mer
5 March, 2007