On Saturday 5^th November the PYA hosted its first ever social event for yacht crew in Palma. The last time we visited Mallorca for the Palma yacht show, the feedback we received was that the island’s yachties felt that the Antibes crew were getting all the fun when it came to PYA social events and that the Spanish contingent were missing out. So we listened to the crew and planned a great day and night out for the yacht crew of Palma to enjoy, completely free of charge for PYA members.

After lunch on Saturday afternoon, we picked up our eager crew members from the centre of Palma and transported them to E-Karts in Festival Park, location of the indoor electronic go-karting track. After a welcome beer, the participants were split into 5 teams, each one comprised of a complete mix of ages, levels of yachting experience and positions on-board.

The teams then took it in turn to do a practice round to get the feel of the karts (the PYA and its sponsors had treated the crew to the fastest vehicles the track were able to offer, so they were pretty nippy off the mark and took a bit of getting used to!). The racers then completed a qualifying round, and each person’s fastest lap time was recorded. Whilst each team raced, the other crew and sponsors were able to watch from a spectator platform and enjoy a drink together in the relaxed environment of the racing lounge.

Once each team had raced and their position had been determined, the racers took to the track once more to establish who was the fastest driver of the day. The sense of competition could be felt throughout, and everyone was in it to win it. As one eager deckhand commented, “I didn’t come here to come second!”

There were some fast laps recorded amongst the 40 participants, but a few drivers moved themselves away from the rest of the pack. Drumroll please……..the results of the Grand Prix:

1^st position – Kieren Noidea

2^nd position – Paul Anderson

3^rd position – Oli Johnson

After the adrenaline of the racing had subsided, we took everyone to Infuze Bar in Illetas, where we enjoyed a chilled evening of food, drinks and socialising. Whilst some people played a game of pool outside on the terrace, others enjoyed the fun selfie pod complete with silly costumes that we had laid on. With plenty of food and drink for everyone, it was a great end to a fantastic day. Rhys and Rhiannon at the bar couldn’t have done more to accommodate us, even baking us a PYA cake!

A few comments from the participants:

“I would like to thank you for a great afternoon. My crew from the sailing yacht Alexa of London enjoyed the afternoon. It was great to see this event in Mallorca.” – Captain, S/Y Alexa of London

“The go-karting was a fun way to break down the cliques and get us all mingling with people we wouldn’t normally chat with. That led on into the night, where the food, drink, pool and photo booth gave us an opportunity to get to know each other more in a chilled out way. I didn’t feel like I was “networking” but went away from the event with new contacts and new friends.” – Jack, Deckhand

“A big thanks to you and your team for organising the Go-Karting & dinner. Really nice to have an event put on in Palma for those crew who don’t get to Antibes… much appreciated!” – Chef/stew, S/Y Cookielicious

“I had such a great time this weekend, thank you so much!” – Katia, Deck/stew

“Thank you for getting us involved in this first PYA Palma Crew Event. We feel proud to be among the first sponsors of such a great event -we really enjoyed it.” – TopCoat Yacht Group

The PYA was so pleased to be able to offer this day to the Palma crew, but it would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors – your very own ‘The Islander’, ‘BWA Yachting’, ‘United Advisers Marine’, ‘Deckers’, ‘MYBA’, ‘Topcoat Yacht Group’ and ‘HR Crew’.

Here’s hoping this is the first of many social events for the crew in Mallorca!