After the Rugby

It was a noisy night in the tent again last night. The drinks and the finger food flowed freely and the band played at high decibel level while competitors waited for the announcement of which teams had made it into the next round.

Because the last two races had not been sailed competitors knew their finishing places. What they did not know was how many places would be available. And Lori Mohney kept the suspense up as she got further down the list. There are more places available than usual this year because some of the Europeans have not arrived to take up their places.

We are down to forty eight places and it’s the Puerto Ricans. And the announcement is greeted with cheers, drum beats and singing. Forty-ninth place and last available spot goes to Joanne McNamara and Renee Winchester from Australia. Joanne has had a break of twenty years from Hobie sailing so she is very happy. Renee’s husband is a red shirted ‘Beach Boy”

It’s Monday and it’s race day. The tent is drying out. The boats have been allocated and those teams in the first of the races are busy rigging their boats. The weather is hot and stifling and as yet there is no breeze. Andre Raoult from the jury stands on the balcony of the jury office and pronounces "very little wind and in the wrong direction". Erik the measurer walks in and proclaims that there is good news – the tent has now dried out and no-one has to sail in there any more.

The waiting continues, the venue announcer gives the Rugby World cup score, then, the American football scores, the baseball results, the Australian election date and anything else of vague interest to anyone.

It’s a good time to go in search of stories. The Puerto Ricans have joined forces with the teams from Guatemala and Mexico, commandeered a beach tent and banded together as the “Pirates of the Caribbean There’s lots of noise and chanting and music from this tent. They tell me that they celebrate everything with music – they make music when they are happy, when they are sad, when they are tense and when they are anxious. And of course it is necessary to have a beer before racing!

I ask if there’s any truth in the rumour that each team member has brought twelve bottles of rum with them. They guffaw with laughter and say “No, not twelve!” they are sponsored by the Puerto Rican rum industry, and the rum is to share with everyone.

They are happy with the number of teams racing in the semi finals. Four teams pre qualified in national competitions and two teams qualified here. It is the first time in history that they have six teams in the finals.

Dave and Linda Sparkuhl from San Diego in California are sailing in this regatta. Dave’s dad was a dentist in Newport Beach and had sailed since he was a young man. At the age of 10 or 11 Dave himself started getting interested in sailing. In the late ‘60s, when the Hobie 14 was designed, his dad became intrigued by it. The boats had only been out about a year when his dad bought a used 14. When Dave started sailing, all the old legends were there and so he grew up with a Hobie sailing background.

When Hobie announced that they were going to come out with a 16 in about a year’s time, everyone wanted one and started placing orders. Dave’s dad bought one of the first boats produced and chose the number 9. When Dave was about 13, he sailed in the first Hobie 16 nationals in San Diego which was won by Hobie Alter Senior. Dave sailed until he was about 15 or 16 and then turned to lasers, which was a strong junior/youth class at the time.

There was a hiatus until 1987 with Dave involved in other sailing activities until moving to Long Beach, a popular cat beach. 1997 saw the Hobie 20 nationals at San Diego and he was able to charter a boat for the event. Although he didn’t do well, it got him back into the Hobie world and it was there that he met his wife Linda – who of course was crewing for someone else!

He continued sailing Hobie 20s, and in 2001 he and Linda married, honeymooning in Monterey whilst competing in the Hobie 16 nationals. Linda persuaded him to look for a Hobie; they took a raffle ticket and won a 16 as first prize. The problem was, the boat was in Rhode Island and it took two years to travel to the west coast via Syracuse, Arizona and Mexico, finally arriving in Southern California.

Since then, they have only been sailing National and World Championships, and pre-qualified to come here. Dave has finally found he likes it and is fully committed to sailing in the class. He will be very happy if they make the cut.

At 2:30 the races finally get under way, then the rain comes back and the breeze dies again. After one race the organizers call it a day.

According to PRO David Brookes the wind s before the start of the race was` very light and variable, with the race committee looking for a stable breeze. The race finally got under way in 7knts of breeze that remained consistent throughout the race. When a shower came across, in the interests of safety and light, the race committee decided to shorten the course. They then looked at trying to get a second race in for the day but a big wind shift came and the breeze died.

David Brookes says that they hope for as many races as possible tomorrow – five would be ideal. Local knowledge says that tomorrow should be a fine day with 10 – 15 knt trade winds.