Dear Islander,I write this as English sports fans are in mourning over the gallant loss of their team in the final of the Rugby World Cup, and the failure of young Lewis Hamilton to win the F1 World Championship in Brazil by just one point. In the end it was so near yet so far, from a historic sporting weekend!
After much speculation about the suitability of the rugby balls used in the World Cup, and that maybe they were not sufficiently “kicked in” or had been “over inflated” before use, it really looked like Jonny Wilkinson and Co. might beat the odds, and the rest of the world at the “funny shaped ball game”- but despite them giving their all, it was not to be.
Conversely it seems that its the ego´s of the English footballer's that are “over inflated” these days, to the degree where they seem to have more interest in their sponsorship deals, country mansions and fleets of luxury cars, than in qualifying for the European Finals, without help from other teams!
At least we can look forward to a British entry in the next America´s Cup, whenever that might be now, as it seems a real possibility that it will be postponed from its original date in 2009, due to.... it has to be said, big ego´s and big money fighting out their differences in court, rather than sitting down and agreeing a compromise for the greater good of a unique sporting event, that has captured the imagination of the world.
What an awful disastrous month October was for extreme weather in Mallorca! No sooner had the unfortunate victims of the tornado begun to get life back into perspective, before many of them were struck again by torrential storms, with an incredible 120 litres /m2 of rain falling within 45 minutes in some areas. We know that several marine companies have been badly effected, but miraculously it seems that only a few yachts have been damaged in Palma, at Real Club Nautico.
We also heard that many businesses are offering help to the less fortunate, and pulling together in order to get things back to normal as soon as possible.We wish them all the best in their endeavours and trust that the financial aid which has been promised by the government will be swiftly and fairly distributed. Please contact us with any topical stories or messages that you would like to convey to others via The Islander, about these natural but very unwelcome disasters.
Talking of business, we are grateful to Snr.Juan Gual de Torrella the President of the Balearics Chamber of Commerce, who has been kind enough to answer some questions for us on the activities of his organisation relative to the local yachting industry - you will find this interview on page 27.
And as always we are very grateful to the many people that send us information, without which this publication would not be possible, so please keep it coming! Please note, that our website (www.theislander.net) often features additional or extra long articles and photos, which we do not always have room for in the newsletter.