Mariquita Book - mk2

ARGENTARIO SAILING WEEK
20 – 22 June 2014
Argentario was undoubtedly a turning point. It made a huge
difference to everybody’s attitude because suddenly something
that we maybe dreamt about wasn’t that far away.
Jamie Matheson
Argentario Sailing Week is without doubt
one of the highlights of the Panerai circuit.
Nestled on the Tuscan coast the regatta
is based in the
harbour town of
Porto San Stefano.
Having lost out to
Cambria in the 2013
event, Mariquita
was determined to
put the experience
and lessons of that
defeat to good use.
With our tactician
David Bedford unavailable for the week,
the syndicate turned to Harold Cudmore,
who had recently spent a season calling the
tactics on the 15-Metre Tuiga. Mariquita
was also joined by the Editor of Classic Boat,
Dan Houston, who was fully embedded for
the week joining the yacht as regatta crew.
“Having sailed Cambria at the America’s
Cup Jubilee in 2001, and The Lady Anne
in 2003, at the Fife
Regatta, I’d been
keen to do a personal
piece on Mariquita
however it never
happened. When the
new syndicate took
over Mariquita in
2012, it was a chance
for us to take a look
at the boat again.”
With Cambria, Shamrock V, Eleonora
and Halloween in the Big Boat Class it
was a memorable week. Stephen Hemsley
summed it up at the prize-giving. “From a
fourth place in Antibes to three bullets in
Argentario. What a turnaround!”
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