Archive News
Santa Irene Club de Vela Newsletter -
20th July 2005
Well the games are over for another 4 years – didn’t the Spanish Ladies do well with 78 medals and in sailing it was the girls in the 470 that took the gold medal. I hope soon to get their names, as they were not on the result list. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get near anyone at the sailing event, the security was so tight, and I guess it’s a sign of the times.
On Monday when the games were over I called at the office of the “Games” in Almeria to collect the results for all the events, but was told they didn’t have them – they were only the organisers! Well full marks they did a good job! I can tell you their website isn’t easy to sort out either, and I’m in the back of the class when it comes to computers.
But, a week later, I have found out the names of the gold medallists are Natalia Via Dufresne and Laia Tutzo. Sail no of their 470 was 1788, which is not too far along from Lynne and Paul’s 470, which means they haven’t sold many in Spain. If you can give me the names of their club, you will win a sailing video.
Some good news for the UK sailors is that London was chosen to host the Olympic Games in 2012, I wonder what Mr Chirac had to say about that! The sailing will be at Portland Harbour, Dorset, it’s the largest man made harbour in Europe, 6,700 acres of wet water, who made it? - The local convicts, they started on a nice dry sunny day back in 1849 it took about 23 years, by then the weather had changed – they used Portland Stone to build a breakwater which closed the open side. On the opposite side is Chesil Beach, billions of pebbles about 200 meters wide and stretching from the Isle of Portland to Bridport, about 28km in the west and possibly 10,000 years old.
How do I know about Portland? It’s where I started dinghy racing as a teenager in 1947 thanks to his Majesties “Senior Service”
It’s now the home of the newly opened Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. A state of the art facility for dinghy sailors. We do it right sometimes and no-one gets paid millions. I’ll visit them when I’m in the UK in August.
Back to Mojacar – will we get our cabin on the playa? , Storage for our safety boat – possibly a slipway to help us launch – Quien Sabe?
We have two more Sundays then a month off, I’m looking forward to September then our wanderers return, and our season starts, we have a year to look forward to and we’ll be racing round the buoys.
See you on the Playa del Cantal opposite Mr UK come
and have a chat.
John Talliss
Tel : 950 475 157
Movil: 658 548 790
E-mail John@Sailrway.com
Archived Newsletters