PADDOCK FAREWELL Sep 6, 00:30
Monday night now, and am just back home in Valencia where it is as warm and humid as it was when we went north to Malmoe over two and a half weeks ago.
Contrary to what I thought (and blogged) Sunday afternoon there was no official party Sunday evening. But sailors are a self-sufficient lot, and Sunday evening Shosholoza did the neighborly thing and quietly invited us all for a what in college we called a "kegger." A beer bar appeared out of one of their containers, and soon the kegs of that old East German "Rostocker" beer were hooked up to the spigots and flowing freely. Several hundred tired, thirsty but generally happy AC team members gathered 'round.
It was a relaxed, fun end to two weeks of comraderie that one has rarely seen in the Cup since it left Newport and teams began hiding behind high fences and skirts. Repeating the theme of one or two previous posts, the atmospehere in the paddock in Malmoe was great. I could not find anyone who disagreed that the "paddock" set-up there and in Marseille last year is the way the Cup should be organized and run in the future. At least we will have the same set-up for Acts 7 and 8 in Trapani in three weeks' time.
Final beer and farewell in the paddock. Foreground center are our
yard boss Scotty Sandford (NZL) and sailing team coordinator Aimee
Hess (USA), just two of many BMWOR colleagues who did the neighborly
thing and accepted Shosholoza's invitation. Of course the free beer
had nothing to do with it. ;)
Doing his first Cup, Daniel Nollert (GER), sponsor rep for T-Systems
(Shosho's title sponsor). Dan agrees: "The AC is much more
difficult than you think it will be, but more interesting and fun, too."
East meets west -- China Team's mainsheet grinders "Fly" (CHN, left)
and "Louis" (CHN, right), with Mascalzone Latino's General Manager,
Tom Weaver (USA, center). Red has never been an auspicious color in
the AC (e.g., Liberty and Mariner). Will it be in 2007?
Kiwis everywhere you turn -- ETNZ marketing maven Tony Thomas
(NZL) and Alinghi's general counsel Hamish Ross (NZL). These two AC
vets were among many who thought the paddock atmosphere was
great.
Contrary to what I thought (and blogged) Sunday afternoon there was no official party Sunday evening. But sailors are a self-sufficient lot, and Sunday evening Shosholoza did the neighborly thing and quietly invited us all for a what in college we called a "kegger." A beer bar appeared out of one of their containers, and soon the kegs of that old East German "Rostocker" beer were hooked up to the spigots and flowing freely. Several hundred tired, thirsty but generally happy AC team members gathered 'round.
It was a relaxed, fun end to two weeks of comraderie that one has rarely seen in the Cup since it left Newport and teams began hiding behind high fences and skirts. Repeating the theme of one or two previous posts, the atmospehere in the paddock in Malmoe was great. I could not find anyone who disagreed that the "paddock" set-up there and in Marseille last year is the way the Cup should be organized and run in the future. At least we will have the same set-up for Acts 7 and 8 in Trapani in three weeks' time.
Final beer and farewell in the paddock. Foreground center are our
yard boss Scotty Sandford (NZL) and sailing team coordinator Aimee
Hess (USA), just two of many BMWOR colleagues who did the neighborly
thing and accepted Shosholoza's invitation. Of course the free beer
had nothing to do with it. ;)
Doing his first Cup, Daniel Nollert (GER), sponsor rep for T-Systems
(Shosho's title sponsor). Dan agrees: "The AC is much more
difficult than you think it will be, but more interesting and fun, too."
East meets west -- China Team's mainsheet grinders "Fly" (CHN, left)
and "Louis" (CHN, right), with Mascalzone Latino's General Manager,
Tom Weaver (USA, center). Red has never been an auspicious color in
the AC (e.g., Liberty and Mariner). Will it be in 2007?
Kiwis everywhere you turn -- ETNZ marketing maven Tony Thomas
(NZL) and Alinghi's general counsel Hamish Ross (NZL). These two AC
vets were among many who thought the paddock atmosphere was
great.
General | by TFE
