Marmaris International Race Week 2014 - Day 1
by Icarus Sailing Media 29 Oct 2014 00:39 AEDT
25-31 October 2014
Welcome to the beautiful Marmaris in Turkey and the highly esteemed Netsel Marina. This is the 25th year that the marina has played host to such an enormous fleet, gathered here as always for Marmaris International Race Week as the regatta celebrates its 25th anniversary. And why change such a splendid venue - Netsel marina offers the best hospitality for the sailors as well as a great atmosphere for all attendees and it's opening its doors once more for another successful year.
Marmaris International race week boasts five days of sailing usually amongst champagne conditions typical of a Mediterranean coastal town. Today the event started with an inshore race where the expanse of azure blue waters transformed into a canvas of colour as the participants' sails filled the course.
5 sequential starts were scheduled for the 150 boats competing here. Most of them were set to compete in the Charter division – the class that sailors from 17 different nations have travelled here to compete in. However regardless of the class all of the attendees are here to have good time out on the water and to enjoy the sought after climate that South Turkey has to offer at this time of the year.
But despite the holiday atmosphere there was still some serious racing to be done as the professional sailors were well aware. The 73 boats competing in the IRC fleet range from 63 to 25 feet and are fitting boats to race in as they sport the latest in technology and design which the owners and crews hope will provide an edge over their fellow competitors in the fleet.
Despite the weather not proving to be very promising in the previous days leading up to the regatta, the skies cleared and the breeze filled the gulf starting without any delays and racing was able to get underway as planned. In fact the breeze continued to build as the day went on and the boats were able to take full advantage of the conditions, gaining good speed along the course and allowing the boats to make the most of their large sail area.
In the IRC 1 fleet PROTEL Matmazel had a great performance today sailing flawlessly around the track and making a good start for the event. While in the IRC 2 it was Extreme Ways with Andrew Holdsworth on helm that topped the leaderboard.
By early in the afternoon the last boats crossed the finish line to successfully conclude the first day of the Marmaris International Race Week. There were smiles all round as the crowds looked forward to the next day of racing.
Tomorrow the regatta continues but this time the fleet will be racing outside the gulf of Marmaris for what will be the only coastal race of the event. It's a chance to see what the huge fleet can do on the open seas. Make sure you don't miss it."
Day 1 results can be found here.
marmarisraceweek.com