Mariquita Book - mk2

RÉGATES ROYALES CANNES
23 – 27 SEPTEMBER 2014
We had good fights this season. Fantastic fights.
Close, sometimes too close. Mikaël Créac’h.
Winning the Panerai Trophy was a real
possibility. However, many of the permanent
crew had been in the same position in
preceding years and had seen the prize slip
away during the marathon week that is
Régates Royales.
With over 10 yachts
on the Big Boat start
line Mariquita was
going to have her work
cut out. Was she going
to cover her nearest
rivals Moonbeam IV
and Halloween for the
general classification
or go for the regatta win? Matty Oates, the
Mate, described the feeling amongst the
crew, “We were sailing well by then, very
cleanly. We knew that we had all the deck
work dialled in, so it came down to the
question of whether we could find the better
breeze? We also knew from MahÓn that we
could out-tack Moonbeam IV, crew to crew,
although in a regatta like Cannes, that’s not
always the best strategy. The other problem
was Mikaël Créac’h who
after his win in Imperia
had his tail up!”
To make matters worse a
flu virus swept through
the crew during the
training days leaving
at least two regatta
crew on the sidelines
for the opening days.
Thankfully a few willing hands from
La Mascarade stepped up, including Zane
Gills who happened to be in town. The
regatta finally started and the results began
to fall Mariquita’s way.
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