Words and photos by Epic Rider Antonio Cozzolino
Palma & Hyères World Cup Regattas Part I
Every year all the world’s best Olympic Class sailors gather on various parts of the of the globe for each of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Regattas. There are seven legs in total, the first two European legs (featured here) are held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in late March and Hyères, France, mid-April. Thus along with the cobbled classics, one-day monuments and the like, this makes April a very busy and rather exciting time of year. With so much action, I thought it best to do a bit of a “photo diary” if you will, to give you a good snap shot of the month as a whole.
Pictured above, one of the NeilPryde RS:X Men’s starts. 75-odd boards all fighting for clear air. If you pay close attention, you’ll notice me right in the middle there just above the Italian guy - great start believe it or not!
The Dutch gentleman here in the foreground, Dorian van Rijsselberge, one of the the very best, ended up taking this event home.
You might be interested to know that many of the top athletes you see here are actually also avid cyclists - one of the best ways to keep the fitness up for the high demands of Olympic Boardsailing.
Anyway, back to the real stuff. Bikes. Due to a slight camera malfunction I actually have very few photos of the rides we went on in Mallorca, which is a shame. The beautiful mountain tops that you see there in the background above the red and yellow sails made for some fantastic rides, even bumping into a few pros along the way.
We had about two weeks between regattas so tried to make the most of the break by getting out on some short relaxing rides. Pictured here is a group of us on a small climb somewhere in the hills behind the town of Hyères. A small French holiday town that is host of the Semaine Olympique Française regatta each year. On a trivial note, in this picture you can account for about three Olympic Medals, five World Championship titles and twelve podiums, just casually... oh and a very cool NeilPryde logo on my right leg.
Not much to say here. I clearly didn’t think about it at the time, but the wise camera angle would have been to use the my left hand to take the photograph, which would have given you a splendid view of the valley below. Instead you are stuck with some unexciting shrubbery.
Honestly, you take one phone call... and it apparently becomes funny to start racing...
Minor hoods issue to attend to, followed by a quick coffee stop
A bit of training in Fréjus, a small town between Nice and Hyères
Sailing back to the beach, itching to go for a ride
Above: The marina we were launching from back in Hyères. I know itʼs the South of
France, and while the temperature in the photo looks all balmy, let me tell you, the water
temperature was enough to freeze vodka.
Below: preparing for a casual afternoon training session on the water. This is before we
were kicked out of the compound by all the dinghy sailors. We boardsailors were relegated
to the beach. This may sound like a good thing, but if youʼve ever had sand in your
swimmers (togs, bathing suit, board shorts, swimwear or whatever your variation of the
English language calls them), youʼll understand that, the beach, is not really ideal for
rigging these beautiful NeilPryde sails on.
The afternoon commute along the waterfront back to the apartment was always a nice way
to unwind after a day out on the water. Though perhaps that had more to do with what was
in the drink bottle... Given this is the southern France I thought this to be rather apt, all I
needed to do then was put a baguette in the other drink holder and it would have been the
complete authentic stereotype. Bikes, bread and red wine on the Cote dʼAzur, what more
could you really ask for?
A very. very cool initiative I stumbled upon in the TGV. Seating in rows 21, 22, 25 and 26 is
reserved for cyclists. In theory this is to help you organise getting on and off the train with
ease. However, unwittingly, I think they have created a social seating area for fellow
cyclists, a sort of cyclist “meet and greet”. Ten points for the SNCF!
So now, obviously, Iʼm on a train. Direction: Antibes.
Please follow this link to read Part 2.