Thu, 10th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Knightsbridge, London, & Queen Mary Sailing Club, Queen Mary Reservoir, Ashford, Middlesex, England
Today was to be the official practice day of the Cumberland Cup. We arrived at Queen Mary Reservior to find the wind blowing very strongly, with some big gusts in it. The event organisers decided to delay any practice, and review at midday; however there was no change and so all practice was cancelled for the day. Lucky that we had organised the pre-training day yesterday - something that we definitely need to undertake in any future teams racing events we attend anyway.
We all returned to Hyde Park House and relaxed and got ready for the official reception at St. James Palace with HRH Prince Andrew (not me!) - The Duke of York. We departed RTYC on an old double decker London bus (our official transport for the whole event), and made our way across the centre of London to St. James Palace where we waited outside until it was time for us to move inside. We were not allowed cameras or mobile phones, so I am afraid there are no pictures. We mingled inside until HRH arrived - he is the honourary Commodore of RTYC. A couple of speeches were made, with HRH apologising for the London weather causing the cancellation of the practice day. Andrew (me) then commented that "The Australians got out yesterday in 20kts plus". Once the speeches were over HRH approached Andrew, probably because of his interjection, and discussed sailing in Australia. Great conversation!
Once finished there we all had to make our own way back to Hyde Park House, and we sat down for a team dinner in the restaurant.
A good night was had by all, and we are ready for the first days racing tomorrow.
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Wed, 09th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Knightsbridge, London, & Queen Mary Sailing Club, Queen Mary Reservoir, Ashford, Middlesex, England
Well today was our first activities for the Royal Perth Yacht Club (RPYC) team for the Cumberland Cup. Due to the high possibility of very little wind at this event, the team decided to get an extra days practice in - just in case. So we booked ourselves a mini-bus and a J80 (the boat we are sailing on for this event) for 3hrs to get a feel of the boat and 'bed-in' how we will work on these boats as they are set-up a little bit different to the BW8's that we trained on at RPYC.
There was some good wind out there; although it looks like the forecast for the event is light winds. But, we got comfortable with the boats and figured out what we needed to do. We tested some spinnaker sets; although in these winds they would not normally use spinnakers for this event - but we needed to train with them anyway. We got some good processes in place and should be right for the regatta. The official training/familiarisation day is tomorrow (Thursday) and the races run Friday-Sunday with the finals on Sunday.
There is a webcam of the venue; although I am not sure it is working, but here is the link just in case - Queen Mary Sailing Club Webcam & Weather link.
I think this is the link to the Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) Cumberland Cup website and hopefully it will show the results - but I will try to upload them each day RTYC Cumberland Cup link.
This is the link to the GoPro video on the Swagman Sailing YouTube channel, of the our pre-training day.
When we got back to RTYC after the training session we did the official registration for the event. We have a 'meet & greet' tonight in the RTYC Quarterdeck Room (Jacket & Tie....grrrr - but you have to do it).
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Tue, 08th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Knightsbridge, London, England
Well today we woke up to a nice and fine day, although it got cold later in the afternoon - but that is probably expected.
Today we decided to take the Underground over to Lords Cricket Ground and on the way take a wander around Sherlock Holmes territory along Baker Street and take a leisurely stroll through Regents Park.
We didn't go into the Sherlock Homes Museum at 221b Baker Street, but went into the gift shop and looked around at the souvenirs. We then wandered over to Regents Park and had a light lunch, and then walked over to Lords.
At Lords we went into the Museum while waiting for our tour. Lots of English cricketing memorabilia and of course the Ashes urn (or old perfume jar which we later found out on the tour). Of course you are not allowed to use Mobile Phones (cameras) or cameras because most of the items are on loan from private collectors. Attempt to take a photo of the Ashes urn during the tour but didnt work.
We went into the Pavillion and the visitors dressing room. They are currently getting ready for the England v West Indies test match on Thursday; so we werent allowed on to the ground, but got close enough. We went through the stands and then up to the UFO shaped media center. Great tour - just under 2hrs - but very informatiive. Interesting the tour guide had a two-way radio and they dont number the for identification - they use famous cricketers names. Our tour guide had Truman (I think?).
Went and bought a few things at the Lords Cricket store.
We then caught the Underground back towards Knightsbridge and got off at Bond Street to do a quick bit of shopping along Oxford Street. Bloody packed with plenty of people spending lots of money; even though everything is very cheaply priced. Saw a security guard pick up a pair of pants somebody had dropped. He said they were old ones that somebody had swapped with new ones and had walked out with the new ones - no security tags on anything.
We came back and then wandered down Brompton Road for a light dinner at a local Tea Room - very nice and very reasonably priced.
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I am particularly liking day 4 when you go to Lords how exciting....shame you couldn't step on the hallowed turf.
Sounds like purchases are being made every day too, you little shoppers
Have fun and kkeep posting, Luv Pen
Mon, 07th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yach Club, Knightsbridge, London, England
Monday was a Bank Holiday in the UK; although there was plenty of stuff open. In the morning we hired the public bikes in Hyde Park and had a short ride around before breakfast. We rode over to Kensington Palace which is at the end of Hyde Park, and rode up embassy rode. Vera said that I must have put all the security guards on high alert because I had my black beanie and sunnies on and looked like an international THUG! It is the first time in our lives that we had to watch out for horses as they are everywhere in Hyde Park.
We then came back and headed out to the British Museum in Bloomsbury. On the way we stopped off at the Disney store, which is where the photo is from with me standing with Woody from Toy Story.
We started out walking and then it started raining (funny that); so we head down to the Underground to get the rest of the way. The British Museum has had a real re-vamp over last decade and is very good. We hired the electronic guides and did the Britain & Europe History section, and then because we are going to Athens we decided to do the Parthenon section. This section was very good and very very interactive, and we spent about 2-3hrs in that section alone. The freizes that made up part of the Parthenon we display very well and current interpretation explained very explicitly. Really enjoyed that bit.
In the British & European History section they had some amazing jewellery that had been recovered from English dig sites; as well as Bog Man who is an extremely well preserved specimen over 2000 yrs old, we think!
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Sun, 06th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yach Club, Knightsbridge, London, England
On Sunday we did a Big Bus Tour of the city. It was great; although it took most of the day. It also included a tour boat trip in the main part of the Thames. Around lunch we hopped off the tour down on the Embankment and went to OceanLeisure Chandlery and picked up some sailing gear including my new watch. The Big Bus Tour Company is very good; although at the end of the day we got caught in traffic and we didnt get to see much. After Ocean Leisure we went to The Sherlock Holmes Pub in Embankment. Vera tried the Sherlock Holmes ale - which was warm.
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Sat, 05th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Knightsbridge, London, England
This is a photo of the daily exercising of one of the Queens Regiments.
Sitting having breakfast at Hyde Park House overlooking Hyde Park the view is wonderful. We are here in London from 05/05/2012 until Monday 14/05/2012 to compete in the Cumberland Cup Teams Racing event. This is an invitation only event to all Royal (or equivalent) yacht clubs using two team boats (J80's) and we compete against 7 other teams. We arrived yesterday (midday'ish) from Perth via Dubai on Emirates Airways. Great flight, and flying the A380 was magnificent; such a magnificent aircraft. Walked around Knightsbridge yesterday afternoon. Had to go into Harrods and have a look around, which was great - damn busy with all sorts of people. Had coffee just outside Harrods watching all the luxury cars (with & without chauffeurs) pull up and park outside.
We then wandered down Knightsbridge and did some window shopping, and Vera bought her first item of clothing (leather jacket) for an extremely good price. Vera is very happy with me as she said I was the one that made her decide on buying the jacket; otherwise she would have just left it - good parchase. We and had an early meal and pint at a corner pub just on Knightsbridge.
We then went for a late afternoon walk around Hyde Park - magificent park, and came back and wandered through the eastern end of Knightsbridge looking at all the luxury cars, little terrace houses that have been turned into luxury residences - very, very high priced. One note is that their are a huge amount of Balkan's (Russian, Ukrainian, etc), and a hell of a lot of money.
Today we are going for a Big Bus Tour of London, and make our way to Ocean Leisure Chandlery to pick up a couple of things and have a look at what boating items I would like but probably wont get. We will then probably hire a bike in Hyde Park and have a ride around the area.
When we finish here we will be head over to France via Eurostar for a week; with a few days in the SE of France (Burgundy) at our fellow RPYC club members hotel that is being renovated (Lechatelet), and then back to Paris for a few days. Then we are off to Croatia; Dubrovnik for a couple of days and then off to Split where we pick up a Junneau Sun Odyssey 36i charter boat for a week. Then back to Split and Dubrovnik for a night each before we head off to Greece for a week and a half. We arrive in Thessaloniki, Greece, and then head west over to the Prespes region to see Vera's Mum's village for 2 nights. Then we drive down to the island of Lefkada in the SW for 2 nights, and drive over to Athens for about a week. Then back home via Dubai again.
I will attempt to Blog as often as possible while we are away to keep family and friends updated.
Today was also the annual SS34 Association Commodores Race at Fremantle Sailing Club. Because we are away I had Phil Somerville-Ryan and Murray Gardiner sail the boat down for the race. They should be finished soon, so I will message them shortly to see how they went.
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There you are looking at parks and men in red suits and all we have is the federal budget to look forward to today! Great to hear you are loving it in my old country, have fun Luv Pen
