The last two races of 2019

Porto Rafti’s nautical club Ν.Α.Σ.Π.Ο.Ρ organizes several sailboat races during the summer every year with the last two crossing to the second largest of the Greek Islands, Eboia (Εὔβοια,) or Evia.  Eboea derives its name from the words εὖ "good", and βοῦς "ox", meaning "the land of the well-fed oxen.  An interesting vignette is that the philosopher Aristotle died on the island of Eboea in 322 BC. 

The race on September 29, 2019 was to the coastal town of Karystos in the south coast of Evia. In antiquity Karystos’ name was Chaeronea and was famous for its wealth.

The medieval Castello Roso overlooks Karystos.  The impressive Venetian castle was built in the 13^th century, and is offering a panoramic view of the town.  

The overall winner of the race to Karystos was the legendary Okyrhoe.  In the picture we see the boat maneuvering near the starting line with my brother Nikos at the helm. 

The last race was to little port of Marmari in the southeast coast of Evia.  The boats are jockeying at the starting line.  

In this picture we see the southwest coast of Evia and the nearby Petali islets.  These two races concluded the 2019 season.  It is time for the boats and the sailors to rest and prepare for the 2020 season.  I wish you all a good winter, stay healthy and get ready for 2020! 

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.