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| Dave Reed |
| Brasil, Ericsson, and Movistar kept the public's attention on the day before the Volvo's Baltimore in-port race. ABN AMRO One and Two, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Brunel were on the water tuning up. |
Blazing sun in Baltimore is a good thing. It draws people to the
waterfront. Add to that a Waterfront Festival with Tall Ships, lousy
music, and fast food vendors. On the sidestage is the Volvo Ocean Race
village, tucked away at the far end of the horseshoe-shaped harbor. The
sponsor pavilions are a slow buzz of curious festival goers and sponsor
VIPs scurrying off to meetings, dressed head to toe in team gear. It's
a toss up whether Ericsson or ABN AMRO dressed their corporate guests
best.
Off the sea wall, today three of them hung stern to:
Movistar, Brasil1, and Ericsson. A stream of school children were
boarding Ericsson, which kept them occupied. Meanwhile other crews
slowly loaded sails and lazily prepped the boat for tomorrow's in-port
race, sure to be a light one. ABN had its boats out sailing, as did the
Pirates of the Caribbean—it's race rules to always have three boats in
their slips. Those out sailing today had the benefit of stopping in at
the boatyard further down the harbor, which allowed them to load sails
for tomorrow's race. Those on waterfront row had to drive theirs in by
car.
Needless to say, the racers were scattered to either sailing, or as Paul Cayard put it dealing with "dog and pony shows."
ABN AMRO One owns this race, so tomorrow, the race for second place begins.
Everyone's fighting for the scraps. More tomorrow. The party is starting with me.
