LATIN SAIL
The Canarian Latin Sail is a native sport that is practiced exclusively in the coastal waters of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria between the months of March and October, taking advantage of the fact that in these months the Trade winds (northern wind) blow with greater constancy and intensity.
The competition is carried out using 7.00 meter long boats made of wood in the traditional style called “boats”. Each boat has a crew of 9 to 12 people depending on weather conditions
The uniqueness of the sport lies in two fundamental aspects:
– The enormous lateen sail that the boats have, which means that the effort that the crews must make it enormous to be able to counteract the action of the wind about it.
– That the competitions are carried out only against the wind, in boat slang for “upwind” or “bowl”. In practice from the south to the north.
These two aspects differentiate lateen sailing from any other type of sailing.
The competition takes place on a route of approximately 6 miles between a place called El Túnel de la Marfea (departure) and El Puerto de la Luz y de Las Palmas (arrival).
The current fleet is made up of eighteen boats which are competing for three titles, which in order of importance are as follows:
The Championship. It’s the Latin sailing league. The boats compete against each other in one-on-one races, more popularly known as “Pegas”. Exactly the same as the soccer league but between boats and a single lap
The Elimination Tournament. In this competition the boats sail against each other in a series of 6 races. In each regatta the last 3 classified are eliminated and cannot sail in the following rounds, so successively the boats go beyond the 1/8 final, the ¼ final and the semi-final, to finally the three survivors from the previous qualifying rounds, compete the grand finale. In football terms, it is the king’s cup of Latin sailing.
The Gran Canaria Cup. In this competition the boats sail against each other in a series of 10 races. In each regatta of this competition, depending on the position you obtain in each race, you add points, as in rallies or Formula 1. The champion will be the one with the best score throughout the 10 regattas to be competed.
In this competition, the boats also have to pass through a series of beacons located along the course and close to the shore, which increases the attractiveness of the regatta.
THE REGATAS
The regattas usually last between an hour and an hour and a half (regardless of their type) and the boat that spends the least time completing the course wins. The time is timed by the jury at the start (the boats leave in stages, not at the same time) and also at the finish, which is defined by an imaginary line between a beacon located near the marina and the jury’s boat.
The boats prepare to go out to the regatta on Saturday morning and arrive at the dock around 6:30 p.m., at which time the Vela Latina dock (inside the Puerto de La Luz Sports Dock) is bustling with activity. activity and deserves to be visited.
The organization of the regattas is the responsibility of the Canarian Latin Sailing Federation, whose facilities and offices are on the same dock.
THE BOAT
Built entirely of wood, the lateen sail boat represents a unique vessel from any point of view.
With main dimensions of 6.70 long (length), 2.40 wide (beam) and just over a meter high (depth), it has a hull that is hardly comparable to that of any other sailing vessel. It takes approximately 4 to 6 months to do it. For its construction, different types of wood are used depending on the pieces that are manufactured and of course it is done in a traditional way. The people who build them are called riverside carpenters.
In a simplified way we can explain that it is built from a vertebral column that constitutes two pieces that are called keel and sleeper, from which the ribs are located that are called frames or braces, placing the lining or planking on those ribs.
The hull, with a sharp bow and flat stern (with a transom) that is differentiated by its colors and has two appendages or additions that protrude from it, at the back (stern) of the boat is the rudder with which the skipper steers the same (it is like the steering wheel of a car) and at the bottom we see the daggerboard, which is a metal plate attached to the hull that serves so that the boat sails forward and does not go sideways, “clinging” more in the water.
By the way, and if you are new to this boat thing, the stern is the back, the bow is the front, and the sides, (the bands) if we look from the back to the front, the right, is called starboard. and the left, port.
If we look at a lateen sailing boat, the sail stands out for its size, it is approximately 40 square meters, it is made of synthetic fabric and each one costs… well, the sails usually last between 1 and 2 seasons since with the Over time they become deformed or unraveled.
The number that is located at the top and that defines each boat stands out on the sail.
The sail is tied, spanned, to a wooden stick called a lever. The lever is about 13 meters long and is supported by the 10 to 11 meter wooden pole.
The sticks and levers can be solid or hollow and can have an exterior plastic coating that gives them more resistance.
THE ONLY SAILING SPORT WITH FANS AND FOLLOWERS
The media and the Internet are not immune to this and promptly report what is happening day by day as the season progresses, because it is a sport of popular interest, thus, every Sunday and Monday, the most representative newspapers ( The Province, Canary Islands7) report what happened by displaying photographs, times, classifications, etc… the same as the regional news programs on TVE, Antena 3, Televisión Canaria. On Fridays and Saturdays they inform about the matchday to be played the following day.
There are also radio stations that report on what is happening in the regattas with live connections and programs throughout the week and finally there are television channels that have their program dedicated exclusively to Latin Sailing, such as Channel 9 with the “BOLINEANDO” program.
