From Elba to the Americas Cup
Storyteller
Sun 24 Jun 2007 21:32
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I am writing this from Port Americas Cup, which
seems light years from our peaceful harbour in Elba which we left on 8 June
after a very enjoyable 10 day stay. Apart from eating and drinking and
exploring Roman and Medici, and Napoleonic sites, much of our time in Elba was
spent watching the Louis Vuitton regatta being held in Valencia. We celebrated
the stunning Kiwi win with a slap up seafood dinner at the best
restaurant in town. the maitre d' was a delightful chap with a deep bass voice
and excellent wine recommendations. The group at the next table, he told us,
were third generation Italian Americans off a chartered super yacht who
looked distinctly Mafia to us.
Our friends Ian and Avelyn met us in Elba and
sailed with us to Corsica where we spent a lovely couple of days at Macinaggio
on the east coast, and then Calvi, on the west coast. After six weeks in
Italy, it seemed strange to be speaking French again, and all that would come
out was 'Si' instead of 'Oui'. At Calvi we
found ourselves right in the middle of a jazz festival. Like many fishing
harbours in the Mediterranean, Calvi has gone out of its way to make the town a
very attractive destination for yachts. and of course the prices matched the
lovely conditions--134 euros for one night. Prices that horrified us at the
beginning of our time in Italy this season now seem common place and spots in
marinas are so scarce one almost feels grateful to get one at any
price.
After two nights in Corsica we set off for Menorca.
a day and a night away. We were lucky with the weather and arrived in
Menorca to find the Australian super yacht Kokomo, owned by Lang Walker,
tied up to the town wharf. Like us, Kokomo was en route to Palma Mallorca
for the Millenium Cup and other super yacht races. Most super yacht owners are
very stanoffish, but Lang walker and his Aussie guests were happy to indulge in
a bit of banter with the plebs like us on the dock. We found Mahon, the
main town of Menorca, as attractive when we had been here two years ago.
A couple of days later, having accustomed our ears
to Spanish again, we did a long day sail to Mallorca. The first night we
anchored in a 'pond life' sort of a place, but next day went to a beautiful
little harbour (cala) surrounded by stunning white villas where gardeners were
mowing expensive lawns.Here we had our first real swim of the season in clear
turquoise water. As we already knew Mallorca has some glorious spots, but
also some beaches with dreadful overdevelopment and hideous tourists,
mostly English and German.Our main reason for such
a fast trip was to reach Palma in time for the Millenium Cup, one of the world's
truly great yachting events. Words fail to do justice to the sight of 50
odd super yachts displaying their glory. Luckily for us, our friend Crit Shiels
is engineer on Georgia, one of the super yachts, so we were able to get the
inside story of what goes on in the world of the super rich who are the owners
of the super yachts. We and Crit's mother, Heather, who is staying on board
Storyteller were able to get passes into the super yacht base and to take part
in the crew party while the toffs attended the Millenium Cup ball. I'll now get
John to tell you a bit about the sailing, both in Palma and now here in Valencia
at the Americas Cup.
The Superyacht Cup was the largest gathering of
these sailing yacht ever held. The smallest were the two Australian/New
Zealand super maxi's, Alfa Romeo and Wild Oates. The largest was the
revolutionary 288ft Maltese Falcon owned by Tom Perkins of Netscape fame. In
between there were two of the fabulous J class boats that raced for the
America's Cup in Thomas Lipton's time. There were replicas of famous schooners
from the 1920's and ultra modern, minimalistic Italian designed
Wallys.
Then there were beautiful and luxurious yachts that
sailed surprising well. Many of them were built in New Zealand. To see this
fleet racing in perfect conditions in Palma bay was a thrilling
experience.
Talking about yacht racing, we are now berthed at
the brilliant facility that has been built at Valencia to host the America's
Cup. It is claimed to be the largest sporting venue (in acreage terms) ever
built. It is also by far and away the most
expensive marina I have ever heard of. I could never admit what the
berthing fees are costing us for the minimum stay of 18 days. However now
that the pain of paying for the berth has faded it is wonderful to be here.
Particularly, today as Team New Zealand came from behind to beat the title
holder in one of the most exciting yacht races I have ever seen. We are hoping
the Kiwis can recover the cup they lost four years ago. They have made a good
start but it will not be easy for them to win 4 of the remaining 7 races.
With thousands of Kiwis here to cheer their team on, the atmosphere when the
boats leave the harbour to go to the race course is electric. This is a huge
international sporting event and it is a shame that the Australian media who
became so excited when Australia won the event no longer bother to report
on it. The skipper of the Prada sponsored Italian semi finalist is an Australian
and a national hero in Italy.
Fortunately tomorrow is a lay day so we can go to
the old town and see the sights
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