Hello Paul !
Finland may be the most northern location for Europe class worlds. How do you find Hanko and the open week atmosphere over here?
Indeed, Finland has been the up north we have been.
We used to stay in in the Scandinavia, maybe in Denmark and Sweden and we have been in Norway, but this has been the far more up we came and actually it’s a great adventure to come to Finland and to come to Hanko.
Hanko is a beautiful city. We really love it. I was promised that it is the sunniest place in Finland and indeed it is. We’re wearing short sleeves and that’s good – don’t forget that I’m coming from Spain.
The atmosphere on the sailing event is great. The organizers are really well prepared, everything is under control and the atmosphere apart of sailing, which is also really, really important in our class, is also nice. There are a lot of restaurants, and terraces where we can meet and have chats with sailors from other countries.
Europe Class is a great and popular dinghy class. Sailors appreciate its speed and agility, which makes it a lot of fun. What’s in the future for the Europe Class?
Wow, complicated question. What’s in the future? Who knows?
But let’s say first that it is true that Europe Class is a lot of fun. I have often finished my opening speech in Championship’s by telling the sailors that the most important is to have fun. This is how you can really appreciate and enjoy the atmosphere, ambience, other sailors and the boat, which is a really fun boat. It’s not only about sailing and winning, but it’s really important to have fun.
There are already many new events scheduled for the future. Next year UK will host the Master and Youth European Championship and the World Championship will be held in Central Europe in Torbole Lake Garda. Torbole is a very popular sailing site and they have organized a lot of championships races there also for other classes.
But future for Europe Class is of course that the sailors continue have fun, continue sailing the class and those who haven’t tried coming from the Optimist and other classes, just go try our boat, just jump on one of them and you will feel it. You need to sail Europe Class to know the feeling.
Where does your own passion for sailing come from?
It’s in my blood. My father was a sailor and I’m the youngest of seven brothers and sisters, and all of them have been sailing. I was born into a sailing family. I was young to start sailing and windsurfing and later on I went to cruise regattas and also started coaching.
I’ve been a coach in the Spanish Olympic Federation at three Olympic games, In Seoul, in Barcelona and in Atlanta.
After that we started working for a building boats company. So, I have been through almost everything in sailing and I can say that sailing is my life.
