My son Miles, International Seducer of Women!

[Fortis]

I might have mentioned that the yacht club I sail with is hosting the world Championship 470's at the moment. racing proper starts on Tuesday, but they have mostly all been there for 10 days, at least...Literally over a hundred of them, plus coaches and support crew.

The femal teams are a sight meritorious of appreciation...The Russian girls are easily the most glamour-pic pretty...but being Russian are almost assured of being insane and dangerous, Next in line (A Natural and real beauty they carry off without wearing makeup and wetsuits at the same time) are the Netherlands team.

Today I took Miles down to the boat to do some work in the aftermath of a project development i decided not to post about here for a hwile until I calmed down a bit. I typed it out, I tried twice to wring out the vitreol, then I decided not to post till I could edit it objectively...or never. Anyway. We fiddled around with stuff on the boat and then went for a walk to the beach, through the crowds of young fold tweaking their 470 rigs to deadly perfection...

Miles is happily skipping on thorugh when he sees the Dutch girls gettiing their main ready to hoist...He runs over to the boat in its trolley, grabs the bowrope, looks at them and says "My Sailboat?".

That was it, hook line and sinker....They fell for him. He carefully pointed and explained to them what was the mast, boom, shrouds and tiller (in case they weren't sure) and generally behaved at his 160% charming best, while obviously knowing more about boats then any two year old should. They made a huge fuss of him, and by default I got heaps pof compliments on my brilliant son. Miles loved frolicking with them.
The Italian team girls, believing perhaps that competition does not end on the water decided to see if they could bribe Miles away. They had a secret weapon. Sponsored in part by V-Power (Conglomeration project of Shell and Ferrari, apparently) they had little model Ferraris to give away to the privelidged and elite.
They came over all smiles and presented Miles with a ferrari toy and tried to entice him over to their boat (at this point lots of crews and support staff are watching this). Miles happily accepts the gift, but sits down at the bow of the Netherlands boat and does not follow. 20 seconds later they come back with two more (different model) ferraris.... The stakes have been raised!
Miles gives them a big smile, accepts the toy cars as his due and hands the two unoppened ones to me, to keep for later, he then goes to see and help what the dutch girls are doing "Halyard! Halyard!" (He was right). The italian girls retreat in not too unhappy defeat...I get called on by them to bring him around after the races because he is gorgeous and they love his smiles.

The dutch girls, meanwhile, having quietly claimed coup, ask if Miles and I would help them launch the boat and retrieve the trailer. So Miles gets to ride in the 470 as it is towed into the water by "his" two dutch girls, I then pluck him (and his ferrari convertible out and wade ashore with him and the boat trolley, which he then "helps" me pull up the beach.

Then followed playing with beach mud in the shallows, investigating starfish, chasing seagulls, yelling for low flying planes and news helicopters getting set to cover the event and in all ways getting as blissed out as a two year old can.

On the walk back towards the car, the croaitian men's team coach
(who had apparently watched Miles in action earlier) puttered over in his Zodiac and offered miles and I a ride back to our car (he rafted up to the boat) instead of having us walk back across...So Miles got yet another boat ride for the day "Motorboat! Motorboat!" clothes change, lunch and exhausted, contented nap. It's good to be him!

Now a far less noble or principled man could so use a kid like that to aquire phone numbers from smitten women sailors far from home....

but that's not me.....

Doesn't mean I don't mourn an opportunity going past when I see one.


:)


Alex.

[CapnK]

I only say this because Frank isn't here to do it for himself, but...








PICTURES?!?!?!?!?  We Need Pictures!!!



;D


(PS - If he's *that* good, I have to ask....   Do you need a babysitter?  :D)

[maxiSwede]

 ;D ;D ;D

And from whom did he get those genes, then?  8)

[AdriftAtSea]

I'd have to agree with CapnK... without photographic evidence... none of your story is really credible... :D



P.S.   I guess you've forgiven the boy for the little winch incident. :)

[Zen]

ahemmm, dude, where are the pictures?

No pictures, it never happened! :D

[Fortis]

I am not sure I can explain this. I often carry a camera with me when I am out and about with Miles. I actually had it with me on the described day. I used it to take some detail shots of the "bad" areas of some painting that a boat I am working on has had done and whihc require the painter to come back and correct....

but...And this is a but I am not sure that I can get anyone to understand...

sometimes, there are moments of time spent with my son that are just for us. Just right there and in that spot and for as long as I can hold onto and remember them. Pulling out a camera changes the dynamic in those times and sort of ruins it. So even if the girls that were fussing over him were willing to put up with that intrusion, it would have changed the flavour of the day I was spending with my son.

So you are free to believe what you wish, But it happened...I know because I get a silly grin just remembering it...And because Miles has now "disassembled" one of the toy ferraris and I tripped over another while walking to the bathroom in the dark wee hours.

On the 470's, by the way...The preliminary races are all done and it is just the medal series left to run now. I am "off" today, and back on for the silver and gold medal deciders tommorow.

Strange boats, they are worth close to $50K each, they get pampered and cared for and maintained like formula one cars...and in less then 15 knots of wind on the very first race SIX of them retire, three with broken rudders! And these are not  strictly a light wind boat...they were still out there when it hit 28knots, in fact the course got lengthened...
Fortunately, looking for sabotage amongst the fleet is not my problem, just seems more then a trifle odd, is all.

In other news form the event...I really wish people would stop devotedly enacting their country's worst stereotypes while actually wearing, holding, or standing beneath their nation's flag for easy identification....

The italian coach/support boat does not know what a 5knot speed limit in the creek means (or their idea of 5knots is more like Warp Factor 5). The Turkish coach uses his zodac as a dodgem car while waving and gesturing for everyone to get out of his way. The Isrealis decided we were persecuting them for being Jewish because we wanted them to get out of OUR berth which they had decided to fill with both of their coach boats while we were out doing volunteer work on their race course. etc...

On the bright side, the New Zealander's are brilliant value, The US coach (Gold medal winner at the last olympics in 470's) tells great "No sh*t there I was" stories and the Brazillian girls do indeed perform boat mainteinance in bikini tops that are a dedicated study in ultra minimilism....Hmmm...Actually, that could explain the breakages and such in other crew's boats...they were distracted by something when they should have been paying attention to getting things fastened in properly.


Alex.

[Captain Smollett]

but...And this is a but I am not sure that I can get anyone to understand...

sometimes, there are moments of time spent with my son that are just for us.

With a five year old daughter and a two year old son, I absolutely understand that.

[Auspicious]

Can I borrow your son for an afternoon?  ;D

[CapnK]

Alex - Good info, even though there's no pics of the bikiniized sailing teams. ;D Grog!

[Cmdr Pete]

Dutch 470 team

http://www.isaf.org/19129.php?PHPSESSID=11cd24224eb63622bc8f365f52380e24

[Cmdr Pete]

No bikini pics, you bunch of horn dogs

[Captain Smollett]

Oh yes, THAT's attractive....   ::)

[Fortis]

There's something I just found out form visiting that site (when I should actually get my gear together and drive down to the site, as I am on duty today)...the dutch girls are actually the defending world champions! Wow, they gave not an indication of it, Not the least bit stuck up or self important at all....Much different to the "I'm too sexy for this regatta" approach of some of the other teams (both male and female).
Somehow that makes them even cooler.

Okay. I'm off, we have some extras on board the boat, so hopefully I will have time to actually use the camera...With only two of us on board , whenever the boats are rounding our mark we have been two busy spotting and calling, or writing in the forms to actually do anything else until the boats have gone by and are distant spinnakers.


Later...

Alex.

[Zen]

puppies ALSO WORK WELL!

Can I borrow your son for an afternoon?  ;D

[Zen]

and classey!

Oh yes, THAT's attractive....   ::)