There are a few races around the world which are really awesome. The Palmavela Regatta in Palma is one of that legends. In 2017 I got the chance for it. Our Race-Skipper Sascha Jäger called me a few month ago and told me about his vision, getting part of the Palmavela. He found a way to get a race yacht which is based in bay of Palma. I need no second to say yes to him. I knew the boat, I read about it in the last years. She was built for racing. SIEMENS MOBILE sponsered it in their high point and JOT was the fastest yacht in the bay. That´s years ago. In the meantime Oliver Ochse does it´s trainings on that boat and we get it for the PalmaVela.
That´s a cool move, cause at least it´s a race boat, an old one and marked by the years. She´s really not a beauty and everything is kind of broken. We had a broken backstay, lots of backlash in the rudder, but the dacron sails with the impressive number ESP7000 were brilliant. We had a fast mainsail and two foresails. One for more and one for less wind and also two spinnakers. Unfortunately we destroyed one in the training. That´s a pity.
The Crew of Sascha was a brilliant mix of sailing soldiers with a highly developed sense of celebrations. We had a triad aboard:
- The most smashed racer
- The booziest crew
- …and the best atmo&performance.
In total we had three days of training and 3 racing days. The first training day was the hardest. Evreyone has to find it´s position on the boat. We had to organise the processes and manoeuvres aboard. We really get better on the second day. The weather conditions were awesome. Plenty of sunshine and enough wind. Above that it was fascinating to see all the WALLYs on the water, which also do their training exercises.
At the 3rd day we were quite good on the water. That´s amazing, cause in the meantime we had the 2nd night in the Bierkönig, Ballermann and Mega Park. Yeah we had the Mallorca full contact programm. From the Royal Yacht Club (RCNP) to the sediment of mankind and I have to say, everything of it has it´s charm.
The first race day was coming and we were all very excited. Particulary cause of our new spinnake, which we will hoist for the very first time, cause we broke the other in the last training day. At least it´s just another Spi, therefore we managed it quite good, instead of our whole race. We don´t get the speed in the first race. Don´t know why, it was not our day. For this we were better the next two days and in total we were better than expected. We had a top speed with „JOT“ of about 14,8kn and in total we finished in the last third. Which is quite cool, cause we were the punks and the only crew which was not paid for it. If there should be a ranking for amateurs, we were first, for sure.That´s a move for underdogs. We were part of the PalmaVela. That cries for new challenges.
In total it was a lifetime experience and we had a perfect crew of different yachties.
Where to stay.
We stayed in Palma in the LAS ARENAS, which was fine for our mission. It was quite cheap and we had breakfast and dinner. Both was not delicious. We go out for dinner every evening. There are so many good restaurants and tappas bars along the coast. All of them were awesome. In the Hotel we just took the breakfast and there the basics. Eggs, Toast and Fruit. Everything else there is not constitute a recommendation. In a Nutshell, the location is quite good and very closed to PURO BEACH. The rooms are clean and OK for sleeping. We had the „all incl.“ and therefore it was cool to get a few drinks between the shower and the nightlife.