Spaniards at The Yacht Week

After having lived already in Madrid for two years, I feel inclined to write about the plethora of Spanish boats seen this summer in Croatia.  Seeing so many Spanish flags waving over the boats made it an easy decision for me to dedicate this post to the Spaniards that come to The Yacht Week and those who decide to join a Spanish crew. I joined one of the eighteen Spanish boats for a day to go sailing on their catamaran to get the full story of what really brought so many of them here this summer.  The group of boys were from Barcelona and Madrid. The booker of the boat, Sergio told me that when he did the booking in December, the night it opened he had laid out two laptops next to each other in case one would die while reserving the vacation of his life.   All of his friends committed within a week, leaving one spot left on the catamaran.  Sergio wanted to come up with a legitimate and fair way in which to delegate a spot to one of his two friends vying for the last place on the boat, so he decided to organize a ping-pong game.  According to this group, the ping-pong game lasted for more than two hours.  What started out as a serious competition, later exploded into a massive party to celebrate the victory of the winner. Their American skipper, Ben Martin told me that he had never had such a fun and energetic week for various reasons of leading a Spanish boat...

They are known for their late lunch and dinners.  They are known for their afternoon siestas and 3 cups of cafe con leche a day.  They are known for starting the party at 3 a.m. and coming home after sunrise.  If you are partying with a Spaniard, don’t be surprised to hear shouted more than a couple times a night “campeones del mundo” or “viva España.”  You know you’re on board with a Spaniard when red wine and ham is offered the second you step on board.  If you want to sleep early, don’t raft up next to a Spanish boat because it is more than likely you will be talked into joining them until 8 o’clock in the morning for some drinks and crazy dancing.

If you are a skipper for a group of Spaniards, have patience at all meal times.  Your lunch will be their midmorning snack and your tea time will be their lunch time.  So, expect to have lunch at around 2 p.m. and dinner at around 10 p.m. while everyone else is slowly starting to get to the parties.  Fashionably late happens naturally for the Spaniards at The Yacht Week because all parties start when they are just about to prepare dinner. Join a Spanish crew if you want to mix it up a bit and listen to reggaeton instead of house music.  Join a Spanish crew if your drinks have run out.  Join a Spanish crew if you are looking for an after party.  Join a Spanish crew if you have run out of bread and coffee. If you are ready to stay up for the longest time you have ever done in you life and really have a good time, join a Spanish crew.