Talamone

Talamone

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to relive some very happy sailing memories. I spent two days and nights sailing with Gianmarco and Krantz in the Tyrrhenian between the Tuscan coast and Corsica. We had enormous fun doing this often together 25 to 30 years ago. I am happy to report that, except for the grey hair, nothing seems to have changed - still lots of exhaustive engineering discussions and bad puns. We were crewing on one of the radio escort boats for the 160 mile Tuscan Archipelago Double Handed Race for the Mini 650 class.

"Snipe" Bay, Talamone

After a very pleasant six hour train trip from Munich through the Alps to Bologna I had a meeting with Aldo about the motorboat project and then a lovely evening at home with him, Pucci and their daughter Stefania. Next morning we did the Bologna-Florence-Siena-Argentario road trip which we had done together so many times in the past. The highlight was our lunch of extra chunky roast suckling pig sandwiches at the usual roadside bar somewhere south of Siena. After a supermarket run at Orbetello (amazing how much food is needed for seven people for two full days) we were treated to an impressive dinner of local dishes and wines put on by the Circolo della Vela Talamone for the race competitors.



Gianmarco and Krantz, leaving Porto Santo Stefano

The race started in immaculate spring weather with a gentle but cool Scirocco allowing the fleet to set spinnakers for the long run up to the Isola di Capraia.

Sunset over Corsica

Here we watched the sun set over Corsica and had a sit down dinner of pasta, bruschetta and assorted cheeses together with a red brought from Romagna. We were a lot more comfortable than the crews on the diminutive 21 ft boats that we were escorting (our "chickens").  We then settled in to a paired three hour night watch system. Although the breeze was quite chilly, the night was not unpleasant, with a bright half moon and flat seas. An unofficial cooking competition arose as each pair took turns to cook something more spectacular for lunch and dinner. I stuck to dishwashing.

Lunch on board "Parbleu"

After the race we caught up with Alfredo, another friend from Romagna, whose boat was the first design on which I worked in the Sciomachen office. The prizegiving involved another excellent dinner provided by the Circolo della Vela Talamone at its amazing club house which is part of the town walls high above the bay. Interestingly, the first seven places were either foreign crews or women skippers, so the local lads were a bit embarrassed, as this is a famously tough type of racing.

Grand Soleil 46.3 "Parbleu"

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