end of Day 2 Dispatch

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Dispatch from Hyeres, end of Day 2

There’s a fundamental truth that the farther you get from home, the grander the adventure. The paradox is, the suffering also gets more intense. This morning, the power went out and Scott Ferguson couldn’t open the electric gate to get the car on the road at his rental house, so he tossed his bicycle over the fence, and found himself in the boat park 20 minutes later, having enjoyed an unscheduled cardio workout.

Today, he did what he does so well, start near the front, hike hard for two minutes, create a lead, tack on the first shift, then connect the dots. Ferg finished with two seconds, unfortunately, he was over the line early in one race so he was thrown out.  That means he has a 1, 2, 10, OCS. There will probably be a throw out, so hope is alive.

Peter Shope was setting up for the start of his first race when a normally neutral Swiss competitor to windward of him bore off to try to get under him and surgically removed the rudder and both gudgeons from his yacht, rendering him unable to sail. He has filed for Yacht Materially Prejudiced, the judges were right there at the time of the incident, so he should prevail and get average points.

Today, the Chamber of Commerce for Hyeres made good on their propaganda. After the torrential rain where I donned the full wetsuit and rode the bicycle to the boat park, we had racing that was truly magnifique. It was as if we were at Third Beach in Middletown, Rhode Island, but there were large pieces of debris in the water, including logs, yard waste, and scary brown objects.

The first race was a pleasant 10-15. The second race was 15-25 with big waves and lots of wipe outs.  I had a pretty good first race today and in the second race worked very hard to sail with dignity. I did not capsize which was pretty good because plenty of good people did.

The Great Grand Masters staged a revolution when they moved from their parking lot to ours and many competitors were ejected. Last night, the Great Grand Masters sailed in late at night with very little breeze and very little light having still not had a race. Today, I’m guessing they had two.

The dolly situation is absolute mayhem. Everyone has a number on their dolly. Everyone has a number on their boat. They are supposed to match. Hah! People come in from sailing and grab any dolly they please such that there is no way this is going to get sorted out. Maybe it will on the last day, maybe it will not. Just hoping the charter company doesn’t get all religious about the numbers as it is going to get sporty.

While I am in no position to win the Laser Worlds, I believe I have won the Wife Worlds. Lisa has been rediscovering the places she visited as a 16-year-old and is having a magnificent time. Her French is flawless and she converses with all the locals, who compliment her on her skills. She doesn’t dream in French anymore, as she did 30 years ago, but she is enjoying herself greatly. She is a firm believer in the value of experiences over possessions and she pushed hard for this trip. Given my Laser skills, I probably wouldn’t have gone without her but the experience, the people, and the venue are all creating memories that will last a lifetime. 

My French is a train wreck but I do what I can to get by. The last time I was in France, I spent about a month on a Scott CR-1 Pro bicyle riding the Tour de France. When you ride the Tour, you see France, but you don’t really experience it as you are on the bike up to 8 hours a day. My beach cruiser on this trip is not quite ready to summit Alp d’Huez, but it gets me to the boat park just fine. For the first few days, I was pulling my roll-a-board bag from the hotel to the boat park, a half-mile slog. Now with the bike, I’m there quick as a wink.

This trip is an opportunity to solidify friendships with the local fleet members who came, and make new friends from faraway places. Paul Keane and the Irish lads have been first rate we get along just fine. I’m also enjoying the company of Alfredo the Olympian who sailed with the King and Jorge the Dominican who is the Big Papi of the Laser class. Tony from Spain is very funny, and the Swedes are the coolest team of all. Well, they were before one of them de-gudgeoned Shope.

The hotel we are staying at is quite pleasant because my wife chose it. The room is very small and the odor from my wet suit and wet suit booties is quite large. The windows are open and I’m hoping things will dry out a bit before she gets back as the stench is peeling the paint off the walls.

Best from Hyeres,

Joe