Maxi Worlds, Porto Cervo on Viriella
It's showtime in Porto Cervo.
All the maxi's are here. Head turners like "Wild Oats", "Alpha Romeo", "Maximus" and "Morning Glory". Most of the Wally's. Not only the latest, but also the legends like "New Zealand Endeavor" and "Steinlager". Plus all the powerboats and megayachts. A LOT of money here this week.
I arrived saturday on "Viriella", a 118ft Maxi Dolphin from the Moretti family. I did Capri on "Viriella" in the spring as the second bowman, but Luca went racing on "Roma", so I am in charge now! I don't know how to describe racing on those big boats. It's another way of thinking. More conservative, but always with the power of the beast in mind.
The kites are huge and come with a snuffer. Those snuffers can be unpredictable at times. And you really want a kite the size of a footbalfield down when you need to. Sunday during training we had to find out the hard way what's the best technique to get the freakin thing down. Basically you have two halyards. One for the head of the sail, one to pull the hoop up. Than one more line to pull the hoop down, yes on a winch. Very important to keep those halyards free from eachother during the hoist. Than keep the foot of the sail closed and under tension as long as possible. The sail is very heavy. Six big guys are needed to move it around on the deck.
We are fortunate to have 7 America's Cup guys on the boat. All BIG muscle guys. It's a pleasure not to have to brake my back working with the sails. When the genoa comes down on her softhanks, it's a mountain of sail. More than 2 meters high. I need to climb up on it sometimes to clear the spinnaker sheet. When we gybe, when I am on the tackline on the nose of the boat, in front of that mountain of Spectra, nobody can see me anymore. I know though that Paletta, the bowman of the +39 AC team, always keeps an eye on me. I am grateful he let's me do the bow, guess he's just on vacation. Great guy.
So today was our first day racing. Light airs though. A bit boring those courses here. I call them camel-courses. All went really well. I feel very sure with the big guys on the bow. We have good fun. Try to make the maneuvers as interesting as possible.
Very nice working like this. In the evening we can eat what we want in the restaurant, the hotel is perfect and so is the dayrate!
All the maxi's are here. Head turners like "Wild Oats", "Alpha Romeo", "Maximus" and "Morning Glory". Most of the Wally's. Not only the latest, but also the legends like "New Zealand Endeavor" and "Steinlager". Plus all the powerboats and megayachts. A LOT of money here this week.
I arrived saturday on "Viriella", a 118ft Maxi Dolphin from the Moretti family. I did Capri on "Viriella" in the spring as the second bowman, but Luca went racing on "Roma", so I am in charge now! I don't know how to describe racing on those big boats. It's another way of thinking. More conservative, but always with the power of the beast in mind.
The kites are huge and come with a snuffer. Those snuffers can be unpredictable at times. And you really want a kite the size of a footbalfield down when you need to. Sunday during training we had to find out the hard way what's the best technique to get the freakin thing down. Basically you have two halyards. One for the head of the sail, one to pull the hoop up. Than one more line to pull the hoop down, yes on a winch. Very important to keep those halyards free from eachother during the hoist. Than keep the foot of the sail closed and under tension as long as possible. The sail is very heavy. Six big guys are needed to move it around on the deck.
We are fortunate to have 7 America's Cup guys on the boat. All BIG muscle guys. It's a pleasure not to have to brake my back working with the sails. When the genoa comes down on her softhanks, it's a mountain of sail. More than 2 meters high. I need to climb up on it sometimes to clear the spinnaker sheet. When we gybe, when I am on the tackline on the nose of the boat, in front of that mountain of Spectra, nobody can see me anymore. I know though that Paletta, the bowman of the +39 AC team, always keeps an eye on me. I am grateful he let's me do the bow, guess he's just on vacation. Great guy.
So today was our first day racing. Light airs though. A bit boring those courses here. I call them camel-courses. All went really well. I feel very sure with the big guys on the bow. We have good fun. Try to make the maneuvers as interesting as possible.
Very nice working like this. In the evening we can eat what we want in the restaurant, the hotel is perfect and so is the dayrate!
