Chronicle Spain shows its teeth again at SailGP
Special SailGP, the Formula 1 of the sea: same dangers and speeds that scare
Russell Coutts Interview: "SailGP is a billionaire baby who grows nonstop"
The clock
strikes
eight o'clock on a Saturday morning at
SailGP
, the most important sailing competition in the world, and the five members of the Spanish team are working on cleaning, transporting and fine-tuning their boat.
The mechanics?
Themselves.
Three hours earlier, when all
Saint-Tropez was
asleep, they set foot at their destination after a six-hour drive from Barcelona and a plane link in Madrid, where their adventure had begun the previous afternoon with an official reception with President
Pedro Sánchez
.
Neither luxury planes, nor rest, nor respects;
They come to compete in any circumstance despite gambling one million euros as the final prize.
Medalists, Olympic diplomas and the great promises of the world circuit of the fastest catamarans.
Spain
moves away from stereotypes and disputes this weekend its home Grand Prix in
Cádiz
.
"The posh sailors? Let them come here, start working with us and then tell me who the posh is,"
Jordi Xammar
says inside the base and wearing a protective helmet
, bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, and pilot of the national catamaran.
Xammar with a member of the Spanish shore team.
There is no time to take a breath and the team fights a race against time to get their boat into the water in time and form for the races of the day.
"It is our responsibility to ensure that the boat arrives in perfect condition and one day without being able to navigate would be a very serious mistake. We have very few hours on the catamaran and the responsibility is enormous", acknowledges
Florian Trittel
, the head of the Spanish wing, with some dark circles on the face.
A gear, before and after
"Wait, wait to hit it, I haven't put any water on it yet," say Xammar and Trittel, in charge of cleaning and pampering the fixed wing of the Spanish catamaran on its return to the
box
, while the rest of the team concludes with cleaning the hull and prepares to transport the ship to the hangar where it will sleep.
There is still to review all the systems and take stock of the day in the water.
10 hours have passed and the sailors of the
F50 'Victoria'
have achieved a creditable third place, but it is not celebrated with French champagne or enjoyed at the headquarters of the prestigious nautical club of the Côte d'Azur.
Florian Trittel doing maintenance work SailGP
With a ground team reduced to just three people, who would make the skills of mechanics in
Formula 1
, a competition with which it is inevitable to compare them, here they all form a gear. A perfect system that would break if any of its pieces lowered the bar for just a minute. Because luxury can also be at odds with incessant work,
SailGP
sailors
forget about mantras and, with dinner still on their stomachs, the work is done despite tired faces.
They are prepared to be able to disconnect after 72 hours without stopping, but not without first giving the last brushstrokes: "After being here before breakfast, our days end at eight in the afternoon, we have dinner at the base and we still have little strength to spare. analyze all the data and videos on our own, "admits
Trittel
himself
.
Because to find glory, you first work.
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VelaSailGP, the Formula 1 of the sea: same dangers and speeds that scare
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Sailing Spain shows its teeth again at SailGP
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