Summer 2016; Grand Prix Race (Porto Rafti-Marmari-Rafina)

The race from Porto Rafti to Marmari was on a windy Saturday (Sep 24).  We stayed overnight in Marmari and continued on to Rafina the next morning.  The rhumb line distance from Porto Rafti to Marmari was approximately 17 nm with the challenging part being the navigation around the 9 uninhabited islets to the west of the entrance of Marmari’s port.  We elected first to go north and stay to the west of the big island and when we were to the north of it we eastward running parallel and slightly to the south of the three northern islets. 

Marmari is a small town in the south part of Euboea Island.  It has approximately 1,000 inhabitants.  The front street by the harbor is busy with tourists in the summer but it and the rest of the town is transformed into a quiet fishing village the rest of the year.  

The passage from Porto Rafti to Marmari was close reach with north winds blowing between 20-25 knots with gusts to 30+ knots.  We did very well in this leg and reached the finish line first with one-hour difference from the boat that followed us.  The good performance was due to Nikos’, our skipper, ability to read the wind changes and making appropriate sail adjustments and also his skill in riding the waves instead of hitting them head on.

As we arrived first there was plenty of room in the pier where large fishing vessels usually tie.

On the second leg of the race from Marmari to slightly to the north of a light of Rafina’s fishermen port, a 14 nm distance, the winds had eased in comparison to those of the previous day.  They were again northerly blowing around 20 knots thus the entire race was on a beam reach.  We arrived first at the finish line but were seventh on corrected time.

On the way to Porto Rafti we went by several windsurfers who were riding the waves at fantastic speeds.

Nikos, the skipper of Okyrhoe, and Stathis a great sailor in his own right relax while sailing somewhere near the entrance of Porto Rafti bay.