THE OYSTER PALMA REGATTA 2009
Ulrika of London crossed tacks with Sine Die several times on the 17-mile beat up
to Andraitx, and at the finish there was little more than a pulpit’s length between
them, giving Jesús Gasca's local crew a line and class double over their larger rival.
Rock Oyster, John Marshall’s aptly named Oyster 56 finished third in class.
Gasca and his crew continued to lead when it came to boarding the bus to take
crews up into the hills to the famous vineyard of Bodegas Santa Catarina for an
evening of wine tasking and a traditional paella. The bus was parked exactly where
“
We had a few guys onboard
who have never raced before,
Event Director Liz Whitman had directed crews to muster, but Jesús had to make
an impassioned plea to the Spanish driver to wait for the remaining party. The
let alone on an Oyster. They, as
driver condescendingly honked his horn to hurry passengers along but insisted
was I, were most impressed by
that the bus would leave exactly on 6:30pm. He also insisted on everyone paying
their fare, and as Jesús grudgingly dipped his hand into his pocket, grumbling in
all that went on, from the event
Spanish something that loosely translated to “It never used to be like this at Oyster
regattas”, it began to dawn on others that this might not be the right bus. Our
locations, standard of food, to
“
bendy bus, it transpired, was heading straight back to Palma. The Oyster buses
the crack between the Oyster
were congregated at another gate at the far end of the marina. “When was the last
time that Señor Gasca had ridden on a public bus.” one crewman quizzed the
team and participants.
famous Spanish design guru? Jesús could not remember….. “A long time ago”
he laughed. >
Chris Ducker, Oyster 655, Flying Duckman
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80