Not so long ago, when thinking of 'Bodrum' and 'racing', immediately the Bodrum Cup, a regatta of traditional Turkish wooden boats, came to mind. The activities of the Bodrum International Race Club, however, are slowly changing this old and dusty image of racing in Bodrum. Major events organized, are the Gant Cup in August and the Bodrum International Race Week in October, which are being discovered by more and more local yachtsmen and charter companies.
In spite of the wind being the most important absentee, the third annual Bodrum International Race Week was a great success. With last years’ memories in mind, we packed our heavy weather gear and prepared ourselves mentally for sitting soaking wet at the upper board for hours, sprayed by the seething Mediterranean… Instead of that, this year we found ourselves trying to get rid of our sweaty club jumpers as quickly as possible, smothering in the heat and praying for wind!
No matter how interesting the racing tracks were, the wind decided to join in the game as little as possible. Those lucky enough to start in the first divisions, like ourselves, still managed everyday to finish within the given time.
But for all the other yachts, most of them participating outside of the IRC classment, half the time the wind died down long before the finishing line, leaving them with another 'DNF' in the general classment. Especially the catamarans, being the last ones to start, suffered from the lack of wind. Only the first race they arrived within the given time limit.
The organisation tried as much as they could to limit the suffering by prolonging start times, shortening race tracks and deplacing starting lines. She could have been a bit more flexible though concerning the catamaran division, of which all three were disqualified during the last race for not being able to cross the starting line!!
It is worth mentioning that the social part of the regatta was very sympathetic as well. There were party evenings organized on nice locations such as the Dedeman hotel in Bodrum and Yalikavak marina, with sufficient food and drinks for all those who realize that for 30 euros a week (which is what every crew member pays for the evening events) you should not expect a five-star buffet! Quite exceptionnel too is the hop-over to Kos marina, which allowed us to enjoy a nice Greek evening.
Team 'Armada' highly recommends this race week to all those who like small-scaled regattas on a friendly though healthy competitive basis. Maybe I could mention too that we won this race! After this regatta, we joined the Marmaris Race Week and the Göcek Autumn Regatta, about which you can read on our website as well.
For official results, click here
