Uncle
Al's Worlds Diary - 2
...
...
Sun 26 July:
Danes
bearing gifts: Søren and (above) Jetta and their two
lovely
young children brought us breakfast which we thoroughly enjoyed at
length
in bright sunshine aboard our "bed" – then it was off to rig our
borrowed
treasure until the Coach once again leapt into the breach, volunteering
to come to the local airport with Al and give him a ride back after Al
dropped off the rental car – measuring was delayed as the measurers
were
busy rounding up the last of the borrowed boats, but Jesper gladdened
many
hearts when he proposed scrapping the measurement of all foils and the
acceptance of previous measurers’ word that sails measured in – before
we knew it, Marc, George, Mike Codd and I had been packed into
Søren’s
and Nick’s cars (Nick had rented a modest little BMW!) and it was off
to
a sumptuous dinner in downtown Århus and a relatively early night
after that.
...
|
Our
chauffeurs,
Nick Seraphinoff (left) and Søren Gøtzsche,
prepare to drive us to dinner in the lovely town of Århus.
...
|
|
|
Mary
Seraphinoff
(left)
Jetta
|
...
Mon 27 July:
Mark and
Paul Taylor, the final Canadian team, had arrived at 0030 and were soon
hard at work trying to get their buoyancy test passed – they finally
made
it although there is some doubt as to how this boat actually passed –
Nick,
doing the dry test with Søren, had no problem at all until much
to the latter’s chagrin, Nick admitted that he had kept his finger over
the appropriate hole. The immaculate conception, I think, has something
in common with how this buoyancy test was finally passed…
...
Measurement/Buoyancy
Test Day
...
|
|
Longtime
SWS rep
to the WIC and Chief Measurer, Jens Konge Rasmussen, gives his 'Seal of
Approval'.
...
|
|
Since
the weather
remained benign, measurement was conducted outdoors on a pleasant
afternoon.
...
|
|
Poul
Ammentorp
(left)
and Joel Bøgh get serious - for a moment or two.
...
|
|
Christian
Friis (right) and his friend helped both ashore and afloat - I
seem
to recall some of my few on-the-water pics came from Christian.
...
|
|
Simon
Clayton
(W875) prepares to 'get measured'.
...
|
|
Rachel
Mockridge
(W875 crew) and Colin May while other scurry around.
...
|
|
Mike
Mac and Simon
Townsend put on the finishing touches.
...
|
|
From
l to r: ???,
Arne and Vibeke Stahlfest and Steen Antonsen.
...
|
|
Ernst
Henriksen's
daughter and crew, Susanne Holt, of W5942
...
|
|
Kristoffer
Møllevang/Jakob
Karbo complete their buoyancy test.
...
|
|
Paul
Taylor
looks enviously at W9068 heading out for some practice during the Yellow
Submarine buoyancy test...
...
|
|
...
while Thomas
Raun-Petersen helps...
...
|
|
...
and Anker
Mørk Thomsen records the event for posterity.
...
|
|
Joan
Sayers, wife
of UKWA Chairman, Chris Sayers, returns from 'shopping' along the
waterfront???
for
more waterfront scenes, click here
|
......
The afternoon
brought the
practice race in 7-10 m/sec of wind (j ust about the best winds of the
week!). As we were on our way out, a little 8-foot rubber duck came
roaring
up behind us and its lone occupant asked if we were competing. When we
confirmed this, he proceeded to hover off our bow as we sailed
close-hauled
and brought out a camera. This turned out to be the excellent
photographer,
Niels Kjeldsen, who took the picture you saw in the Race One
and Two Reports while steering the
boat
with his knees. We were too fast for him (a rarity that week!) and he
took
the shot just as we began to bear away to avoid running him over! Mike
Mac won the race which did however take its toll: Nick’s recently
operated
knee left him less mobile than was desirable, especially on tacks and
later
that evening he tried to get a handicapped sticker while gassing up but
even that was denied him; a great handicap for Ernst Henriksen, always
one of the best Danish racers, as he neglected to fully raise his board
before winching his boat onto his trailer – the board wedged against a
loose block caught in the box and snapped, leaving Ernst with a board
that
was not good; Norway’s Gudtorm Heldal became the first of three wooden
boats to be holed during this event!
A welcoming
reception (for
photos click here) for all
participants
later that afternoon with free beer, Wayfarer Stompers music
and
a new Worlds song written to the tune of The Wild Rover by
Jesper
Friis. The latter was done in instalments, the first verse Monday,
verses
1 and 2 Wednesday and we sang all 3 verses on the Saturday. We were
welcomed
with fine speeches by Torben Møller and Steen Ammentorp. There
were
a few smiles when Torben’s attempt at bidding us ‘heartily’ welcome
sounded
a bit more like ‘hardly’ welcome but I tended to be extremely tolerant
in light of the difficulties I was having with my attempts at
Danish…
Our night was
rounded out
with another feast in downtown Århus, this time in the Italia
where we got to cook our own steaks on hot lava rock left on a wooden
plate
at our table (photos below) – it was during this meal that
Nick
and Søren came up with the name Mixed Nuts for their
boat.
...
|
In
the restaurant,
Rasmus was very well behaved, creating a souvenir (above) for
Marc...
...
|
|
..and
one for
Uncle Al.
...
|
|
|
Among
us adults,
the standards of behaviour suffered a bit at times. Above you can see
chefs,
Marc Bennett (left) and Mike Codd (right) barbecuing
their
steaks on a very hot slab of stone right at the table as George
Blanchard
looks on.
|
...
Tues 28 July:
the
first two races, and Nick was nearly late due to early morning shopping
and pasting the name on their boat! An excellent self-serve breakfast
with
lots of coffee and tea between 0800 and 0930 with the first gun set
daily
for 1030. Only Poul and Irene did not really need the Coach’s cold beer
after we came in. His other two charges, the Schönborn and Jensen
crews had had bad days and were in dire need! The evening was another
story
however, as the free beer preceded a marvellously delicious dinner at
the
sailing club and lots of singing, socializing and fun until bedtime. |
