Crew Member Pablo Santurde (L) with Gonzalo Botin, Captain of Tales 11 at Maine Wharf Today.

Tales 11 Docked at the Maine Wharf  Abouy 2:30 pm. Others Racers Followed Later in the Afternoon.

Johnny Robinson Was the Bartender at Scales on the Maine Wharf This Afternoon.  Founder of Hugo’s and Finches in Falmouth.

Captain Botin (L) with Race Organizer Hugh Piggin, at the Maine Wharf Today.

By Carol McCracken  (Post # 2,610)

It was a rough run from Boston last night said Gonzalo Botin, Captain of the racing yacht Tales 2.  The winds for a few hours were up to 45 mph.  That’s when the spinnaker “exploded’:  he said shortly after his Class 40, 12 meters, Spanish designed and built racing machine arrived at Maine Wharf this afternoon.  That was  about 2:30 pm.   “We were going about 18 knots.  We were really pushing it,” said Captain Botin, “This is a really fast boat. It made a big mess.  The whole spinnaker was wrapped around the stay,there was sail all over the place.  There was a piece of the spinnaker dragging behind the boat that we had to pull back on board.  We were stopped for about an hour trying to get rid of the mess.  There’s still lots of sail all over the place….!”  Botin was looking for a sail maker in the area to replace that ruined spinnaker.

Tales 11 was the first to dock in Portland because Botin won the second leg of the race – about three hours before his competitors who arrived around 5:30 pm.  The second leg measured 360 nautical miles, from Brooklyn to Portland.  The team also won the first leg of the race which was from Charleston, South Carolina to Brooklyn – from where they began on Saturday at noon from pier # 5. At the end of today, Tales 11 was on top of the leaderboard.

The Atlantic Cup is a five-year old race.  It’s usual course has been from Charleston, South Carolina to Newport, Rhode Island.  However, this year the race organizers decided to expand the race.  So they chose Portland as the new destination – adding on about 100 miles to the race to make it more challenging.  Apparently, the goal was achieved according to Captain Botin’s run from Boston.

Botin, a former Spanish journalist for “El Pais” wrote on culture and sports before deciding he wanted to spend his time racing.  His brother Marcelino Botin, is a Spanish yacht designer who designed this yacht.  Currently one of his cruising designs, a 90 ft. boat, is being constructed at the famous Brooklin Boat Yard, in Brooklin, former yard of Joel White.

The truth is that there was some stuff to do while waiting for the other racers to make it to the Maine Wharf.  One was to visit El Galeon a Spanish tall ship that will be open for tours until June 13.  The other was to watch the artificats for the upcoming Titanic show being unloaded from massive trucks.   The artifact exhibit opens Saturday, June 18th and runs at least through the summer at the Portland Science Center, 68 Commercial Street. Or check out the  newly renovated Dry Dock that is under new ownership.  None of the above happened.

Instead, Mhn.com opted for the fourth choice. Spending some fun time at the bar at the new Scales restaurant on the Maine Wharf. The celebrated Johnny Robinson was bar tender. He founded the ground-breaking Hugo’s nearby as well as Finches, in Falmouth.

The racers will remain tied up at the Maine Wharf until the race around Portland Harbor takes place on Friday and Saturday. beginning at noon.  Unlike El Galeon nearby, the public is not allowed to board these four yachts, although they may be viewed from the Maine Wharf.  The race  can be viewed from Fort Allen Park on the Eastern Promenade where  a festival is planned.

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