Palisadian Tony Festa is quick to point out he doesn’t speak French. When it comes to competitive sailing, however, he is fluent in winning and knows the “language of the sea.” That was proven last month when he competed against many of the world’s top sailors. Festa and his crew, consisting of his 14-year-old son Tony and his friend, 16-year-old Greg Dair from the California Yacht Club, were invited to race in St. Malo, France, for the European Championship by Phileas, manufacturer of the Open 570 boat that they race. Phileas helped the American trio, which won the Pacific Coast championship of the USA Open 570 fleet, get a boat to race in the mid-August event and off they went. “After spending a couple of days sightseeing in Paris we rented a car and drove 400 kilometers to St. Malo, where the race took place,” Rich recalled. “On the fourth day we rigged the boat and went out for a practice sail. Thank God we did a test sail because the boat had some major rigging issues which we fixed back at the dock.” St. Malo, a small town rebuilt after the bombings in World War II, is located about 100 kilometers south of Normandy Beach on the west coast of France. Finally, on the fifth day of the trip, Team Festa got to do what it had come to do. The first buoy race started in a calm 8-knot breeze and the first boats around the mark took advantage of the better wind. That group included the Festas, who by day’s end found themselves tied for fifth place out of 28 boats in the international field. “In the first race we got a good, clear start and decided to stay on the right side of the course, which turned out to be the favored side,” Rich recalled. “The wind got light on the downwind leg and we made some good tactical decisions and finished fifth, just a half of a boat length behind the winner. “In the second race of the day, we got a fantastic start and tacked to port immediately where we found plenty of room to maneuver which allowed us to sail fast and beat all but one boat to the windward mark,” Rich continued. “Unfortunately, the current at the mark was extremely strong and we had to make many uncalled for tacks to avoid hitting the mark. The local boats, meanwhile, sailed high and wide of the mark, playing the current perfectly as they passed us. We caught the fleet on the downwind leg and finished a respectable 10th.” The second day of competition was a painful one for Rich and a frustrating one on the waves. The first of four races was going according to plan until a mishap occurred after rounding the first mark. “Tony and Greg set the spinnaker and I jibed immediately only to get hit in the nose accidentally by Greg’s elbow while he was pulling in the spinnaker sheets in the 20-knot winds,” Rich recalled. “With a broken nose and stars spinning around my head I tried to hold it together, but 15 boats passed us.” Team Festa found itself poorly positioned in the second race and finished towards the rear of the fleet. In races 3 and 4 the trio was mid-fleet or better, but too many spots had been lost in the first two races. On the final day of racing, the language barrier proved to be the biggest obstacle for Team Festa. Unbeknownst to Rich, the race committee decided to push up the starting time of the first race because of 30-foot tides. “We realized that the race was starting sooner than we expected and I was quite upset since we were only about three minutes from the starting line,” Rich said. “Tony and Greg calmed me down as we sucked it up and raced, but of course we finished last.” In the eighth and final race, not knowing the lingo once again proved costly for America’s team. “This was a long distance race, not a buoy race, and we had no idea where we were going since the directions were in French,” Rich explained. “We followed the fleet and finished 12th, not bad considering we had no idea where the marks were or where the finish line was!” Two more days of sightseeing followed before Rich and his young crewmates headed back to California. Tony and Greg were the youngest participants in the race. “The French were very friendly and watching their reaction when they saw the USA sail number on our boat was quite amusing,” said Rich, who has vowed to learn French before next year’s race. “That way I can make it to the starting line on time!” (Editor’s note: Rich Festa has been a State Farm agent in the Palisades for over 23 years and is married to former Miss Palisades and lifelong resident Jeanne Elfant Festa.)
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