8 July 2005

Luckily an uneventful but long trip. The transit wait in Frankfort was boring to the extreme especially with a serious shortage of proper sleep. Eventually we opted for joyrides on the SkyTrain (inter -terminal monorail) to pass the time. I wonder what the authorities thought of the guys forever changing units on the loop as the game was to be in the front!

The Poland authorities couldn't have been more organised and helpful. Everything happened like oiled clockwork and we've got our boats, been through measurement, rigged and stacked away for a test drive tomorrow. The ZIBA Opti's are as good as you get and my impression is they are very well built and strong. They are selling off any of the used stuff so let me know. The charter company has gone out of their way to give us top notch stuff and we have top & foil covers that you can only dream about. The sailors are over the moon. Full on Optipart Black Gold rigging and brand new one design foils according to the new class rules. Our stuff (hulls & foils) only just made the weight cut offs. Sails all measured without a hitch. I've been allocated a coach boat and it's a biggish centre console duck. Perfect. For those from last year we've met up with the Bermudans and John's wife is manager with Pablo (Arg) as coach. I'll probably opt to share with them if they agree. Dale; shades of Las Palmas?

The Hotel is definitely post war European but very comfortable and organised. The three boys are a bit jammed into one room and Lejan & I have a smallish unit each. All together at the end of a quiet passage. Our room numbers are 503 boys; 506 Lejan & 507 myself. The hotel phone number is +48 58 666 30 40. You might try adding the room number for a direct line i.e. phone + 48 58 666 3040 and 0507 for Lejan (leading zero for room no.). The hotel e-mail is gdynia@orbis.pl and their website is www.orbis.pl I will let you know our routine and the best time to phone the team. We don't have cell phone comms even SMS at this stage. Everybody is v.happy and in high spirits. The Team get on well together and the smallish group seems to be ideal. Lejan is very much one of the boys! The weather is warm almost hot but a chilly sea. Nice wind for today at 12-14kts. I hope we don't get less, a flat sea.

Ian is still trying to track down the ''Hogg'' Burger, a mystery humungous beef burger as we are B&B only 'till the official opening (10th). We took a walking tour, ice creams in hand like dinkum touristo's of the yachting esplanade to find 6 x 60'ft trimarans getting ready for a race around the buoys. Nothing daunted the SA sailors chat up the crews in a cross culture mix of English and whatever to find they were talking to the 49er Olympic Champ!!

Cheers and thanks for your support especially the e-mails & SMS's. Greg glad that you phoned; there were two anxious faces at Frankfort 'till we rocked up eventually after finding our way across 23km of airport!!

Let you know how the tune up goes, more tomorrow.

Rob Walker