By Amy Smith Linton
This is less a racing report than an event report. Given the scope and pageantry of the Circuito Sur de 2008, however, the workaday discussion of puffs and close crossings could not begin to capture the regatta’s spirit.
In Chile, potato chips are known as pappas fritas. Hence the unholy chorus of “Pappa! Pappa Frita!” whenever Chip Till appeared at a gathering during the Chilean Southern Circuit of 2008. Less easy to explain was the swelling murmurs of “Eeeeeeeeasy there, Eeeeeasy,” though one might speculate that the local firewater, pisco, encouraged John Faus to start saying it early in the week. About that spoken-word poetry version of the INXS lyrics at every turn? No logical explanation, but the gang intoned “Your knees are so raw/I’ve got to let you know/You’re one of mah kind” at nearly every opportunity. That and “The keys no es aqui,” which passed for bilingual hilarity again and again.
The Chilean Southern Circuit is both similar and different from the one we have in the States in March. For instance in Chile it’s two events over consecutive weekends, with a week of recover—I mean work in between. But way down south, first gun is 2 pm, and racing might last until 7 pm, which does not in any way impinge on post-race socializing, since the next day’s start is no earlier than noon, and the sun sets at around 10 pm this time of year. Both circuits offer challenging races, a field of excellent competitors, and terrific bonhomie. The Chilean Circuit has much better corporate sponsorship, including banquets, nice shirts and free Gatorade, beer promotions involving “Heineken Girls,” as well as several teams of beauty-queen young women in trim-fitting and brightly-colored track suits who worked the crowd with photo ops, promotional pens, hats, various gimcracks, and candies. The advertising works, too: Name a mobile phone company in Chile: Movistar. A health company? Masvida.
At this Circuit, the racing is scheduled with great kindness: the first regatta is Saturday-Sunday with a holiday Monday, while the second is Friday-Saturday, all the better to recover. The closing ceremony was set on the sandy beach at Pingueral and included a feast, awards presentation, and two bands. The first of the bands covered INXS, which offered an opportunity for some of us to relive a mosh-pit youthful friskiness. Victor had the bloody forehead scab to prove it next day. The second band, known as “Pistoles Y Rosas” had a dead-on Axl Rose who whipped the crowd into a dancing, screaming frenzy, and, unexpectedly, launched a bout of crowd surfing. The sight of John Faus and Jeff each hoisted at arm’s length above the crowd was topped only by the boggling vision of Chip (Pappa Frita to you, bub) and then our crew Ale Arrieta similarly transported about. As someone noted the next day, at the “We Survived Last Night’s Party, so Let’s Chow Down on Paella” event at Vic’s place, “enough ants can lift up an elephant.” Welcome to the Jungle indeed!
There’s really too much to mention, but a short list of some other unexpected pleasures: fresh stone crabs on the dock after racing on Friday in Pingueral, the belly dancing shows at the awards ceremonies, a gaggle of black-necked swans swanning around Lago San Pedro, a buzz-by from a Chilean navy helicopter, television and newspaper crews swarming the skippers after the racing, the kissing of cheeks at every greeting, the PRO working from a yellow-painted fishing boat and using a loud-hailer to announce what was going on, and the warm Chilean welcome to the norteamericanos.
The Short Racing Report
We had Savannah-minus-current conditions on the small but beautiful Lago San Pedro. The breeze on this lake was light, skipping down from the surrounding hills, and a premium went to spotting the puffs and predicting where they might next touch down. Tito, sailing with long-time crew Cristian Herman and Cristian’s daughter Camila, won the event but bowed out of the second leg of the circuit due to family commitments. Namely, Tito’s daughter’s wedding.
In Pingueral, a big beautiful bay to the north of Concepción on the Pacific coast, the air continued unseasonably light. While the gringos were not qualified to take home the Circuit cup, there were hard-fought battles at every corner of the course. Victor Lobos, sailing with his brother Sebastian and Alvaro Varela, took the top honors, holding off fierce contention for the cup from both Perez teams.
The List of Appreciation
Muchas gracias go to Victor Lobos, who made it ridiculously easy to attend this beautifully-run and seriously fun event. Not only has Victor provided endless hours of Spanish-language problem solving to no-hablar-ing ILCA gringos over the years, he’s done a bang-up job of creating a vital new fleet in Concepción. When he invited us, we didn’t have to ponder long. Victor rocks, and not just when there’s loud music thrashing.
A big general thank-you to the budding Fleet 514, the hard-working volunteers, and the generous owners who gave us a really wonderful pair of regattas. PROs Fernando Perez and Marco Montalbetti, we thank you! Also a pleasure to have Admiral Pedro Arrieta onboard the RC boat. We appreciate the time and energy it takes to run good races like these.
Specific thanks go to our non-sailing boat owner Antonio Aninat and to boat-wright Alfredo Oyarzun. Formerly Fay Reagan’s Booby Trap, our boat was competitive and race-ready. Every borrowed boat experience should be so pleasant!
John and Chip would like to thank Victor, who hosted them. Which included, one must note, an emersion experience of Chilean night-life and inclusion in a big family celebration or two. They also want to recognize Caro Gonzalez, their local-knowledge crew, who brought both sailing skills and party-smarts to the game and kept Chip supplied with cerveza and John with water.
Thanks too to Sebastian Lobos, Victor’s right-hand bro, who sailed and organized and helped at every turn to make this Circuit successful.
Also a king-sized shout-out to Alejandro “Ale” Arrieta, who agreed to sail with the Lintons. Coming directly off his submarine (seriously! A submarine officer!) Ale proved cheerful, spry, and smart. He endured many spousal kissing episodes between races with little complaint. The big guy hauled us and the boat around, and made many stops at the beer store to keep us in Crystal and Escuda and Heineken, and showed us just the tip of the iceberg of his kick-booty dance moves.
A thousand thanks to the Del Solar family of Concepción. This is J.P. del Solar of Michigan’s family: Juan Pablo and Carolina, Maria Jesus, Tomas, Cristobal, and Benjamin, who were our more-than-gracious hosts. They put us up, ferried us around, cheerfully served up delicious meal after meal, and made us feel completely welcome. We drank all their beer and they just laughed when we went to restock their fridge. These folks are class treasures. We can’t wait to see them on the Northern Southern Circuit –– now, if we could only get a Bon Jovi cover band…