Stavros 'Told' you so.................

Yes, yes, yes Campers,
The Man is back to his very best! For those of you that followed the results of this
prestigious event in Palma, only Poul-Richard Hoj Jensen is mentioned racing his latest
Danish Blue. But I can tell you he really needed Theis and Noddy to win his 1,450th
Dragon Trophy. Of the 38 top boats competing in the beautiful bay of Palma, which
redeemed itself after the terrible weather at last years event and Gold Cup, not many
did not have an Olympic, World, European or National Champion on board! Such is the
amazing depth of talent we now have racing our best one design class in the world.

Yes, yes.. Palma de Mallorca showed off it's sailing water's with a variety of wind
strengths and difficult sea conditions, with sun every day, smiles on most peoples
faces and a race committee that managed to complete 9 out of the scheduled 10 races.

And Yes, PRH showed us all how consistently fast he is in all points of sailing and
different wind conditions. He is simply better than even the best over the waves.
Gaining with each small movement of the tiller in his experienced hands. He does not
hit waves, he glides over them telling his crew to hike harder, lean more out eh?
His only concern when he came ashore after the final race, very proud of his new
Petticrow boat, as I congratulated him was,"We have won if we are not over the
line Stavros. eh?"
I then explained to him that in order to be over the line (OCS), a boat had to firstly
be close to the line! when the gun goes. Not three rows back where he always starts.

I also told you sometime ago that ' The Russians are coming' and that is also true.
Although it's great to see so many new boats, trailers, trucks etc... showing up in
all colours and sizes, it's difficult to know sometimes if you are in the right country?
The Princess Sofia was more like the Russian Nationals.... As my very knowledgeable
crew Will corrected me on several of their name pronunciations...........

The first boat to cross us on Port in race 1 was Knock-a-bolloc-ov, closely followed
by his friend Losta-bollocoff. Then just when we are about to tack on the lay line
in comes Who-d'ya-nick-a-bollocoff.....So you see it's very hard to keep up with their
names. Never the less, RUS 34 Vassily Senatorov crewed by Vincie & Max had a
great week to take the runners up trophy, in ' I Feel Good ' well done Vassily.
In 3rd place was another true favorite from Portugal, NONI POR 48. At 74 yrs young,
Antonio Mardel Correra helped by Pedro from Quantum Sails (soon to be North Sails!)
steered his BB Dragon brilliantly to gain a well deserved podium place. Great to see.

After the top three there were so many top sailors, too many to mention all, but I
wondered if Marcus Wieser (4th), in his new Royal Denship Dragon, without a
Spinnaker Hatch, suffered at all in the strong winds? I can see the advantages with
this arrangements in Etchell's and Solings etc.... but with the Mast of the Dragon so
far forward from the cockpit, it must be hell in strong winds trying to launch the kite
and retrieve it at a leeward mark when so many other boats are also rounding.

In 5th place was Frank Berg, ever louder, ever happier.... then 6th was another
of the Transbunker boats helmed by Olympic Gold Medallist Evgeniy Braslavets.
More Russians followed then another great showing from GBR 656 Ivan Bradbury
winning another race during the week to finish a creditable 11th overall. I use the
word creditable because when you look further down the result sheet to see..
Cees Nater 13th, Lars Hendrickson 15th, Peter Warrer 17th and Boris Budnikov 26th
Just to mention a few.......  What strength, what talent, what a class we have.

My tip for fast sailing in this report is to concentrate on sail trim. Keeping the
sail leach closed on both Main and Genoa will give you tremendous height but a
very narrow groove to sail in. It's do-able on flat water and even some bumpy
stuff with an experienced helm, but when the seas increase try easing the barber
up and twisting the top of the mainsail more open. This will lessen the heel of the
boat, minimise the weather helm, give you more speed but you will sacrifice a bit
of height. If you sail with 'The Man' it's always barber up, barber down, eh?
So it's the little things that make the difference, try to experiment more, maybe
not off the start line where you need to hold your lane. But in general sailing,
see what extra speed you get when you ease the mast ram, open the leach's
and put the bow down........................

So you see Campers.. it's not always Higher, Faster, Longer...
Sometimes its Lower, Faster, Longer.....

In closing I would support anyone's decision to make the journey to Palma next year.
The two events, Calanova and Princess Sofia have seen many races take place
over a four then a five day event. In sunshine, a variety of breezes and enjoyable
company. If you book the Barcelona Ferry early and through the P.S. website, the
price is halved. There is also a Fast 4hr ferry for those more impatient amongst us.
Palma de Mallorca has a deserved place on the Dragon calendar and should not be missed.

Keep the faith..........    Stavros.