Azores Sea Week 2

SEA WEEK or "Semana do Mar" has been a part of Horta's summer fun for over 30 years. It ran this year from August 6 - 13 (but they also included two "extra" days prior to the "official" opening...) It is a VERY big deal for this area and all the islands are included in one way or another.

We had such a great time at Sea Week. I got to race for the first time ever and Bob got to enjoy another type of boat racing he had never experienced before!

The week was full of racing of all kinds. First there was the huge single-handed race from Les Sables D'Lonne to Horta (approximately 60 boats that took a week or more to arrive from France). They were in two classes. First the "mini" group of 6.5 Meters and a "club" class of crews in 10 Meters or more...The new marina area looked like a "used car lot on a weekend" according to Bob with all their flags flying. I got to race in my first race ever. It was sooooo exciting! But I finished last (not built for speed...). A dock mate "Sergio" took some great pictures of me from the wall at the finish line and shared them with Bob and Tania (who were thrilled to get some shots of me actually sailing!). As you can see from the results I was not truly last as two boats never even competed! But I looked Good! Ha! Our dock neighbor Emidio on "Generation A" came in second - a much faster boat!

Some of the "Mini" 6.5 Meter class of single-handed racers from France had a few problems...

This poor racer lost his keel (we heard he hit a whale at 12 kts...) and they placed him on top of some tires until his skipper was able to make repairs. This next unfortunate American racer had problems of another kind as these two pictures show what happens when you fall asleep and hit the island of Pico...(Yes, he really did that! - But still floating!)

Bob got to compete in the "Regata dos Velhotes" (Old Men's Regata) for old practitioners of the class Optimist - as it states in the Sea Week Guide. There were only 3 Optimist Boats used so the guys took turns. They rode around in Ribs until it was their time to race. Beer drinking was optional so a good time was had by all.

The wind was very light and shifty that evening so Bob had to be towed into the finish line for one race so more could race. But he did well overall!

Tania got to skipper in the "Mermaids" race as well. Got off to a poor start (not understanding Portuguese we came across the line to soon and had to turn back and re-start). Once again not being built for speed hurt her chances and we finished 6th (not last as once again not everyone raced). Water Polo was big in the harbor also as different teams competed.

Here is the launch from the Clube Do Naval which we got to see a lot of as they were always waiting for us at the marks (during the races) so that once we were around they could take the "Marks" (large yellow inflatable tubes) back to the club for the next day's racing (during one race Tania thinks they went to Pico for a beer before coming back out to take up the mark after we had rounded it because we took so long to get there). The new pier was busy for the "Whaling Boats" race. Lots of excitement as over 20 boats from different islands competed! The final Saturday evening finished with a group called "ABBA-Gold" that entertained thousands until almost 2 am. Tania and Bob had great seats on the wall near were I was docked.