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And as most pirate movies show, there have always been a mix of nationalities on board of ships sailing under the jolly roger, just like this year, but without the need to press anyone to duty, which would have been a waste of time anyway, considering the „hard“ duties that awaited us...
Our boat was a true showcase of the mixture which is part of the attraction of the event: our skipper Marley, a true hearted rastafari who normally works on a fishing boat , skippered our boat in a relaxed and professional way around the islands. He always succeded in anchoring right next to the beach, even when arriving late. Basically, the use of the dinghy wasn´t necessary judging by the numbers on our depthmeter. His answer to the minimun depth that was needed to be on the safe side was as short as it was to the point: „0.0m“
Gabriel was a proud ambassador of the Virgin Islands, living on Prickly Pear Island – a really tiny island in the North Sound. He lives there alone with his mother, both running a bar for passing ships. We still wonder what exactly he meant by announcing that he would be „quite busy after the event, having to do an inventory on his island.“ But let´s hope all turtles and sandgrain is counted and numbered accordingly!
Nat, who completed our crew, didn´t had to hassle around transit flights or luggage restrictions. He simply put on his backpack and sailed his Formulagear over to Tortola from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. He was quite lucky on that trip because during the competition he was plagued by gear failure, with nearly everything that is breakable breaking...
But let´s concentrate on the racing, the main, or at least the official reason of the Highland Spring HIHO. Racing here is definitly unique, all through the islands, mostly on a downwinder, with the finish right on the beach. The whole fleet sailed from Tortola to the North Sound, next to the infamous Bitter End Yacht Club. Quite a paradox name for a place to start the week.
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