The Race, Aix-en-Provence, and Au Revoir

It is the next day, the wind has died to a desirable breeze for sailing, and everyone very enthusiastic for the race.

All the sailors are preparing their boats for the race.

The Race

Here are a few pictures from the race, these were taken from the last start to the end of the race. As the guys were racing, us ladies, Audrey and her girls and Sisi and I, decided to head over to Aix-en-Provence for lunch and to tour around.

Aix-en-Provence

There was a market going on on the popular street Cours Mirabeau.

We had lunch at the well known Les Duex Garcons, where we had a very rude garcon as our waiter. He really filled up the french stereotype experience.

We found a great place to buy some sweets, I bought their famous nougat and orangettes.

Au Revoir!

And we return to watch the guys bring the boat out of the water and on the trailer.

The Yacht Club

The competitors with their new 5.70 World Cup participant t-shirts on.

All of the competitors from Marina Del Rey, California.

( from left to right: Dylan, Nick, Gimmy, Jerome, Rick, and Chris)

Marseille

One of the nights, while we were staying in Martigues, we decided to go over to Marceille for dinner and to see a litle bit of the city. Marseille is the oldest city in France, founded by Greek sailors of Phocaea 600 years b.c. and it is the 2nd largest, Paris being the first. It has a very large commercial port and was considered to be the "gateway to the Mediteranean" during the French colonial days. There is so much to see in this city, we will need to go back!

This area is famous for shellfish, we decided to try it out and we had a fantasic dinner at this restaurant.

Martigues, France

We made it to Martigues! The race was supposed to start but the wind had people quessing whether is would be safe to get out of the channel without a motor.

All the boats lined up in the water and Gimmy on his boat sporting one of the famous "Element Shield" shirt. (Remember those, guys???)
This insert is from the Open Sailing Blog : "Now that Open 5.70 has become an ISAF recognized class and with fleets growing all over Europe and here in the US it is only right that there should be a “World Cup“. The event is being hosted in the Open 5.70s country of origin – France. The racing will take place on the “Etang de Berre” in Martigues which is just to the west of Marseille. This body of fresh water lies adjacent to the Meditaranean and is perfectly suited to the Open 5.70 – relatively flat water with consistent thermal breezes which typically build to 15-20 knots everyday by the early afternoon.
3 teams from the US will be making the trip to test their skills against the best Open 5.70 sailors from around the world. Open Sailing’s own Jerome and Nik will be racing together trying to improve on last years 12th at the European Cup held in Saint Malo, France. Team Festa (Rich Festa, Tony Festa and Greg Dair) will be trying to carry some momentum from their Pacific Coast Championship victory across the Atlantic in order to claim some recognition on the world stage. The third US/Italian team will be skippered by Gimmy Tranquillo (a Marina del Rey favorite that recently moved back to Italy) with Chris Slaggerman and Dylan Porter (both Marina del Rey sailors and friends of the Open 5.70 fleet) as crew."


This is the poster in Martigues and on the dock of where the boats were left to sleep.


As we waited until later that afternoon to see if the first day of racing would be canceled or not we took a walk around the very cute fisherman style village of Martigues.


There were many streets of cute shops and resturants, cafes and bars.

Everyone gathering to hear the discussion, in French. Luckly, there was a translator for the 3 American teams. Minus Jerome, a competetor from Marina Del Rey, California ( he's French)

The 5.70s

So, the race was canceled the first day of a 3 day race schedule. But, in place of sailing they gave everyone bocce balls, as in a bocce ball set, and there was a big bocce-ball tournament for all the sailing competetors. Good trade off, but Chris and Dylan thought, "We came all the way from Los Angeles and we are going sailing!" ... and Gimmy thought, " YES, this is a perfect time to try out the boat, for the first time ever, before the race tomorrow!"

Bocce-ballers. Nick, Alyssa, and Jerome.

And there they are! Getting beat upwind in almost 40 knots of wind, this is heaven for them.

Erin and Alyssa watching the little boats capsizing and get tossed up on the rocks you can see on the right of the picture.

The Martigues Yacht Club, the Frech and Italian flags flying.

Here they come again, downwind, nice wave over the bow.

Not in these photos but there was a big yellow buoy which indicated shallow water. Apparently, Gimmy asked Chris about the big yellow buoy, he replied "Oh, dont worry about it, just go, were going so fast this is great!" Or something to that manner. (Sorry Chris if I buchard your words)

As the guys came racing by the yacht club ( hoping to cause some attention) and the big yellow buoy the bocce ballers ran from the field and over to see if the guys and to see if they would make it without hitting bottom ( I'm assuming this was one detail the French did not translate). Everyone knew what a disaster it would have been but also ( I think) they were watching with a little envy because from the shore it look like they were having a hell of a good time!

Leaving for France

On our way to France the girls stopped by the beach while the guys got the oat ready for the trip.

This is the view from our hotel




Our Hotel

The guys getting the boat ready to be trailered

So cute is the little black car towing the little black boat.

And we are off! Using the GPS!

Getting lost # 1

Getting lost #2

look at this turn, we had to back down the hill we drove up...

...and we had to turn it around, this was hilarious! Sort of like the Austin Powers movie when he gets stuck in the little cart between the two walls.

Getting lost # 3

Gimmy is actually asking these two french kids where to go...in French?

We made it to Monaco!

Nice boats!

Nice view! From the resturant we had dinner

At the resturant. It was a very cool place, obviously, with a nice view over the bay, as shows in the picture above. It was "California casual" and had a nice lounge vibe

The view of Monaco from La Turbie, France

Taking a walk in La Turbie

We stayed in the peach colored building on the left side of the picture. This was the last stop before we get to Martigue, France.

The reason why we got lost so many times was because of the boat. Lets face it, hotels in Europe are not the same as in California; for one reason not all of them have parking lots for cars let alone a boat. So we had to find parking for the boat. We ended up leaving the boat 5 kilometers away down some windy road in the parking for a Sanctuary. The pictures of the Sanctuary are below. We believe the Madonna kept the boat safe.


It was a really pretty church.

Our last leg to Martigues, France

The girls asleep in the car

Carro, South of France. Apparently, this place is a killer surf spot.


Bonjour Jerome and Nick! We have made it to Martigues! Jerome and Nick are friends of ours from Marina Del Rey, California and they came to France to also participate in the 5.70 Worlds. Jerome is also a dealer for the 5.70 boat and will happily help you if you are interested in buying one.

The competitors!