YO! Team's Valencia TOUR
By Lesley Chapman

By winning the 2005 BMW - Royal Langkawi Int. Regatta earlier this year, Peter Ahern's entire Yo! Team were lucky enough to receive a fully sponsored trip to Valencia to visit the BMW Oracle America's Cup base and an afternoon of match racing on the teams training yachts. Now back home and settling into reality, Lesley Chapman gives a detailed account of a truly wonderful trip and extraordinary experience.

Some of the team members were from Australia and their trip did not begin too auspiciously when their plane had to turn back to Perth with engine problems. However they boarded another plane the next day and completed their journey to Valencia via London!

Those of us who were traveling from Malaysia faired somewhat better and only had to travel via Vienna and Munich to reach Valencia. We arrived almost untarnished except for the loss of a couple of bags, and were off to our hotel courtesy of a couple of chauffeur driven people carriers.

The hotel was superb and the staff very welcoming and friendly. Not wishing to go to sleep and risk missing any fun, some of the crew went for a wander around the city. 'This place is very quiet', we thought, not realizing it was four o'clock in the afternoon and siesta time. Everything closes between 2 and 6 p.m.

The buildings are all very old and beautiful and the city manages to perfect a mix of the old and the new very successfully.

A small cocktail party had been organized and Peter Burkardt, Sales and marketing director of BMW Malaysia and Kirsten the public relations officer of BMW Oracle were there to greet everyone. We had a few cocktails and then were whisked off to dinner in a wonderful traditional Spanish Tappas restaurant. The food and beverages flowed freely!!!! A terrific night was had by all, but everyone was very tired so an early night was on the cards.

The next morning after a superb breakfast we went first to Real Club Nautico, the marina where the boats are being stored for the time being until the main base is completed. Unfortunately most of the yachts had already been moved and were on their way to Malmo in Sweden where the next round of acts are taking place.

Next on the agenda was a very interesting morning of talks given by such greats as Tom Ehlman, Andy Dovell, Chris Dickson and many others who gave us an interesting insight into the history of the Cup and all they were able to divulge about the logistics, statistics and design factors which go into each Americas Cup boat.

After this we were given a tour of the Oracle compound with explanations regarding the amount of equipment and spares which each boat has to have. Most of the containers used for storing and repairing equipment had been moved to the races but those remaining had more spares than most chandleries in Asia!!!

We then had an opportunity to look around on board the mighty Oracle and take photographs (outside only) it was, without doubt, an awesome experience, especially standing underneath her looking up!

This done, our hosts had another surprise for us. They had organized us into four teams each team incorporating one or two BMW Oracle sailors.

We were then treated to an afternoon of match racing on the training yachts used by the Oracle teams. These boats are forty-foot versions of Oracle exact down to the last detail. They are superb boats.

We headed out of the harbour in about 8 knots of breeze with the entire support team in attendance, chase boats and the jury boat complete with Tom Ehlman who was to be judge and jury for the afternoon (no arguing the rules with this man, he wrote most of them!!!)

The breeze was steadily building as we took turns in each boat.

The four teams 'Ancient Aussies' skippered by Peter Ahern, 'Double Dutch' skippered by Rolf, 'Adele's Belles', skippered by Adele and our team, skippered by Marty Kaye.

Everyone had a fabulous time and although there were a couple of protests these were dealt with very swiftly and efficiently on the water, no prolonged jury room trials. The final victor with three wins was Double Dutch with Rolf at the helm.

After racing we adjourned to the hospitality area once more for the prize giving. I must admit I for one could not get used to coming off the water after racing and being offered ice-cold champagne!

Once the inevitable post mortem was over, we all went on to Port Americas Cup which is the base where all the boats will be in residence when they return after the next set of acts and will be home to them all for the next two years. The entire basin is surrounded by hangers for each team, some bigger than others but not one any less impressive.

The whole place was stunning and the designers have put a great deal of thought into the concept. The Highway is being re routed to allow a pedestrian area in front of the whole camp and a new entrance to the harbour is being excavated for easy access to all the boats. Every detail has been considered. That evening was finished off with a wonderful dinner, which was attended by some of the BMW Oracle sailors and BMW support crew.

The next day was taken up by being wined and dined in superb fashion, during a visit to a winery. I will not labour the details suffice it to say that no one had any complaints except perhaps the odd hangover.

The last night's dinner was very entertaining and was attended by Bruce Farr, Tom Ehlman and some of the A.C. sailors and design team. This gave some of our younger sailors an opportunity to grill the masters. A very fitting end to a superb trip.

The next day saw everyone dispersing their own ways to do their own thing, but for myself it was a once in a lifetime experience, which I am extremely grateful to BMW and my teammates on Yo! Thank you very much guys.

AsianYachting Ventures Sdn. Bhd. (Co. No. 627106-T)
A 308 PD Perdana Condo Resort, Jln Pantai, 71050, Pt Dickson, Malaysia
Tel: 6 06 6477701 Email: info@asianyachting.com
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Yachting at http://AsianYachting.com