| Italy. America’s Cup Team Shosholoza find success in Trapani, Sicily |
|
|
|
| Thursday, 28 September 2006 | |
|
Janine Geigele: Trapani, with only 70.000 inhabitants, is a small but very gorgeous place, situated at the west coast of Sicily. The historic city is world-famous for its red and black coral as well as owning the biggest salt works of Sicily. However since October 2005 Trapani has become more famous for sports, namely sailing. Last year, for the first time in Sicily, two of the Louis Vuitton Acts took place there. The support by the city was amazing: in only a couple of weeks the government had built a new street and placed almost a whole village directly along the seafront. Spectators did their best and even before the first day sailing, thousands of curious people strolled through Trapani all night. During the races, even school kids got the days off, so they could join everyone watching the spectacle on sea. Amongst all the America's Cup sailors it was Team Shosholoza who were especially delighted, as they scored a personal best with coming fifth overall. The team was so popular among the locals that they were literally hailed as a "fourth" Italian entry for the 2007 America's Cup. And now, nearly one year later, Trapani hosted another attractive event. Just a couple of days ago the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) organised the 'Cento Cup', inviting Skippers and Sailors from all over the world to take part. Apart from Team Shosholoza two other AC challengers, Mascalzone-Latino and +39 Challenge, participated in this regatta. And this time it was the same scene: thousands of enthusiastic spectators celebrated the sailors and enjoyed the great sailing event in a special sunset atmosphere. Ian Ainslie, Shosholoza helmsman and three-times Olympic participant, sailed with Golden Mgedeza, David Rae and Marc Lagesse. The guys raced better day by day until the final: "The final took place here in the harbour with thousands of people watching. It was a small course with more laps and very hectic. In the final match I didn't realise Damien Lehl from France had a penalty and took a flyer to get past him. Later this turned out to be an unnecessary move and they were able to complete their penalty and still stay ahead." Finally Ian lost the deciding third match by a matter of seconds and left the title to the French. "It was a great battle though. We were extremely happy with our performance and beat a lot of very good teams", said Marc, the Shosholoza navigator. The four-man crew, who were racing the nippy little 'Zip 25 One Design' yachts in the five-day event, had beaten Sweden's Bjorn Hanson 3-1 in the semi-final earlier on. Great Britain's Ian Williams, ranked no 7 in the world, finished third overall and Hansen fourth after a petit-final sail off. Of course, as you would expect, the Team Shosholoza crew was treated like heroes in Trapani, despite the 2nd place. Fans nearly mobbed the sailors for some autographs who so enthusiastically welcomed the South Africans return to their Sicilian port. David will always remember Trapani. "It is an incredible place. Thousands of spectators followed the races throughout the week. And the best was that they all seemed to remember us! We got an incredibly warm welcome wherever we went," he said, deeply impressed. www.teamshosholoza.com |
|
| Last Updated ( Thursday, 28 September 2006 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|