Lipton Cup 07...part 6

Dave's pr image
n our final barside chat over a pinch of salt we corner everybody’s favorite good guy, Dave Rae, and hit him with some candid queries.
Deep South Diaries: Cheers dude, welcome back.
Dave Rae: shot man, what did you guys do to Amstel whilst we were away?
DSD: wasn’t us, blame the suits at Heineken in amsterdam.
DR: bastards [stares at his bottle of hansa].
DSD: you’ll get it in glass in October, might not taste the same.
DR: oh well, this marzen stuff is cool.
DSD: so you not sick of boats yet?
DR: hell no, just as long as I don’t have to cut anymore sails for the damn things, he he!
DSD: you’re sailing for the inland boys this year, what precipitated that move?
DR: once a vaalie, always a vaalie! Ha ha, no very established team, always on the fringes of top 5/top 10 and was a very good opportunity to pick up on. Great bunch too round the bar.
DSD: After many campaigns as the two Daves on Greenlight you’re now driving for the first time, how’s that working out?
DR: I married his daughter so he had to replace me with Roger, ha ha! Ja, they won the first year I was off, so I have a point to prove now. Don’t forget big Willy on UCT was also on our crew, and he damn well pipped us in WP champs. It is a different thing now actually running the show, as opposed to being one of 18, a welcome change I must say.
DSD: Being a fairly high profile Shosholoza crewman you got to spend some time on the Match Race circuit, does that give Mark and you an edge this week?
DR: Look, we learnt a lot there, stuff you’ll never pick up from 20 seasons in Table Bay. But that’s match racing, and this is L26 fleets. We’ve definitely got used to being in high intensity situations now, but there is much more to Lipton than that.
DSD: It’s gonna be a great week, dare to pick a winner?
DR: nope, it’s wide open for once; I think I’ll sit on the fence, thanks.
DSD: and if the vaalies pull it off, where will the circus be next year?
DR: To the highest bidder! ha ha, we’ll worry about this week first before talk like that emerges.
DSD: What’re your thoughts on L26s as the class for Lipton.
DR: To be honest I just want to race. I think it’s more of an issue for the actual owners and the owner/sailors who really make up the numbers and the event themselves. I’m lucky that people invite me to sail on their boat. You’ve sailed the Pacer, what’s your view?
DSD: hey, I’m asking the questions – that bag is massive, would be quite interesting with a smallish crew in a Table Bay buster! Ja, there are clearly better boats than L26s around, and just like in the past Lipton will move along to keep up with the times. But the lesson has been learnt that the class makes it to Lipton, and not Lipton makes it a class.
DR: the good news is that there’s a really healthy fleet this year.
DSD: finally, how did it go with the 49ers?
DR: ja, it was cool fun, but those guys at the top are good at what they do, would be hours and hours and lots of swims before we got there!
DSD: thanks for taking the time to chat to us, and good luck.
DR: only a pleasure, you’re not printing any of this are you?
DS: nope.[readers - feel free to print it yourselves! –ed]