Opening Ceremony

Posted byolePosted inMonaco 22

With day zero on the water in the books, it was time for – ta da – the Opening Ceremony.

relaxing in the Yacht Club bar
an Aperol spritz is the drink of choice

I’ve been fortunate to have been in a few World Championship regattas recently, and the Opening Ceremonies are each a bit different. The one in Malcesine for the Moth Worlds was pretty cool; a march through the old town grouped by teams.

In this one the organizers introduced each country, and the teams came up to the stage. One of the members of each country said a few words. It was cool and pretty exciting, and set a great tone.

the organizing committee from the Yacht Club de Monaco
hanging out with the all-women Dutch team
quite an assemblage of sailors
the host commented “this is the biggest concentration of sailing talent anywhere in the world”:
the US teams on stage
with Mark Cutler, Primary Race Officer, and Chris Howell, J/70 US Class President
Chris called me one week ago to say”you’re in, can you make it?” … why yes Chris, I can
good night Monaco – view of the Monte Carlo from the back of the harbor
Hotel Paris and the Casino at the upper right, yacht club (with dual masts) at the far right

Pretty cool and amazing … once again I have to ask myself … how did I get here?