Superyacht Cup 2015 Prize-Giving

Although the sailing day started well, it ended in disaster for “P2”, when there was a miscommunication between the foredeck and the after-guard, resulting in a fouled spinnaker take-down. The sail fell and was dragged into the water and wrapped itself around the keel despite huge efforts by all onboard to drag it clear of the water. Eventually one of the crew had to dive in with SCUBA gear to cut it free, but by then “P2” were out of the race, and so came in last on this final day, destroying any chance of a podium-finish for “P2” in the regatta over-all. Though there was an air of disappointment onboard, both Thami and Archie were exposed to a valuable lesson – in yacht racing and sailing in general, a good day can become a bad day in very short order, even with attentive preparation and practice.

The ‘Superyacht Cup 2015 Prize-Giving’ took place in the events-tent at the Regatta Village and the yacht “Marie” took the coveted first place. See the regatta website for full details of all the prize-winners.

Rafnar Fast Open Boat

After this we jumped into the 12 meter ‘Rafnar Fast Open Boat’ for a short demonstration of its high-speed capabilities and sea handling – which was very impressive. We then all adjourned to the ‘Boat House’ restaurant for a burger and fries.

Again the crew had to report onboard “P2” at 10:00, but on this day the wind was a bit lighter – although still providing good sailing as the sea breeze kicked-in after midday. Performance was getting better and “P2” achieved a 2nd-place finish…!

Phil and Anne hosted a ‘Marine Inspirations Party’ at the Wade home for sponsors and other potential ‘friends of’ Marine Inspirations, so that everyone could meet Archie and Thami for some in-depth getting-to-know-each-other conversation. Our two guys engaged brilliantly and were a huge credit to Lawhill Centre, their families, and South Africa.

Practice day aboard “P2”

Practice day aboard “P2”. The guys all arrived down at the yacht at 09:00 and were soon casting off from the dock. First priority for all onboard was an active ‘Man Overboard’ drill, so this was immediately a good educational task for our boys. The whole day was spent sailing and practicing racing manoeuvres, so there was a lot of hard work; sail hoisting, take-downs and then re-packing of sails – as well as getting into a good rhythm with slick teamwork. “P2” is a high-end racer-cruiser that participates in many of the Superyacht regattas – both in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean – and is crewed by many well-known professional sailors.

Back at the dock it was the usual wash-down and chamois-drying routine for everyone in the crew.

That evening we all had dinner at ‘Can Pedro Restaurant’ at the invitation of Colin Squire of Yachting Matters – a great supporter and friend of Marine Inspirations. Colin sailed with us in the ‘Ibiza Rendezvous Regatta’ last year and has written articles for his magazine about the two students who we brought over from South Africa for that event – Ronaldo Strauss and Bradley Felix.

Wok Dinner

At 09:30 the boys were taken down to ‘Astilleros de Mallorca Shipyard’ for an introductory meeting with Rob van Wierengen, production manager at the shipyard, and Jenny Maul, the shipyard’s marketing manager. ‘Astilleros de Mallorca’ had kindly sponsored Thami’s flight from South Africa, and were also keen to show the young sailors how a shipyard works on a day-to-day basis, by offering the boys two days of work-experience in the yard after the sailing regatta.

The boys had been invited by yacht manager Captain Jonathan Kline to sail aboard the Perini Navi 38 metre yacht “P2” for the Palma Superyacht Cup regatta event.

The intended sail practice with “P2” in the afternoon was cancelled due to a strange weather front that came in, but the boys were put to work doing some rope-work, packing sails and general cleaning. They were also given a safety briefing and shown around the yacht and the engine room.

Anthony and Captain Mike Hasted took the boys to the “WOK” restaurant in Poligono Son Castillo for dinner. ‘WOK’ is a real eye opener! …with huge amounts of excellent food of all varieties laid out for one to just help one-self to as much as one can eat.

MONDAY 15TH JUNE 2015

17:00hrs and maritime students Thami Hoza and Archie Leeu arrived safely from South Africa at Palma Airport and were met by their hosts Anthony Just and Phil Wade from ‘Marine Inspirations’. Anthony took them to his shared sailing yacht, the ‘Aloha-J of Cariba’ (see Marine Inspirations website for photo and details of the yacht) which was to be their home and accommodation during their ten-day stay in Mallorca.

That evening we all had a welcome “braai” (BBQ) on the Wade’s roof terrace overlooking the Harbour. An early night for the boys after a long travel (24 hrs) from Cape Town via Istanbul and Barcelona.