Every race has it's pro's and cons, and we will get to the cons a bit later, but this was a cracker of an event where few can have complaints. Bouquets may be thrown at Vitor Medina and Manuel Mendes for organizing a very special event which just gets better each year. After the 2009 event, which saw rainy and squally conditions, this year saw almost summery conditions out on the bay as the 51 strong fleet headed out of the harbor for the start of the pursuit style race. First off at 12h39 were the smaller division 3 boats in a very light westerly of around 8 knots.

At the Dyang Family mark it was the L34 LAPWING in the lead, followed by two J27's and another L34. In close pursuit was the Pacer 27 REGENT EXPRESS. The Pacer 27 managed to hold an asymmetric spinnaker and sailed a low fast reach leaving the container ship to windward. They benefitted greatly from that maneuver as they sailed directly to the celi 1 mark, leaving the rest of the fleet coniserably higher to windward in search of the mark. At the celi 1 mark the Pacer was in the lead by about 3 minutes, followed by Gumption, Windpower and Lobelia. The Pacer held onto the lead almost all the way back to Paarden Island, whereafter Gumption took the lead. The final beat to the finish saw Windpower comfortably overtaking the little Pacer to take 2nd place, behind overall winner Gumption. Lobelia scraped in by 2 seconds to take 3rd from Regent Express who ended 4th. Other than the Pacer 27, all the top 12 places were taken by big boats. In general it was a great day to be out sailing. With Portugal playing in cape Town for the World Cup on the Monday following this event, made the occasion that much more festive.

As we are accustomed by now, Vitor and his team did a fabulous job of decorating the hall, and providing excellent food and entertainment. The place was humming!!
It is a great pity that many of our members do not have the courtesy to keep quiet during speeches and presentations. This was particularly noticeable during the Portuguese speech by the ambassador. One of the problems are the poor acoustics in the shed. Seating was very cramped for many guests. Perhaps a move to the main hall with its ancillary halls might be a much better place to hold this event.
Viva Portugal!
                Trygve Roberts