I love the sea and sailing. It comes to me by vocation and family tradition. Few people can say that they have contributed as much to the sport of sailing as my family, specifically my grandfather Francisco Cabrera Hernández, who in ...
I love the sea and sailing. It comes to me by vocation and family tradition. Few people can say that they have contributed as much to the sport of sailing as my family, specifically my grandfather Francisco Cabrera Hernández, may he rest in peace, who dedicated his entire life to the art of fishing and Latin sailing. Also, my great-grandfather was a professional sailor, who will go down in history for having worked with his hands on the first awning that was placed in the Jameos del Agua, a very important work for our island. For these reasons, my family is known as "the sailors" of the Charco de San Ginés.
Around the 70s and 80s, the "pegas" or regattas with Latin sailing were limited to "piques" between the boatmen at the exit or on the return of fishing tasks. My grandfather Paco had a reputation for being very good and skilled at these regattas or "piques". In fact, with La Florentina and Sissi (of 5 meters), both boats of my family, he won many of them. With the latter, he even won against the very boat Isla de La Graciosa, which had no less than 8 meters in length.
Latin sailing is recovered in the San Ginés festival. My grandfather participated in the organization of the festivities together with Basilio, the watchman or municipal guard of Titerroy who provided the flyers or fireworks that served to start the regatta. These flyers and a box of beer were embarked on Sissi, my grandfather's felucca, in the area of the small dock, in front of the Caja de Ahorros and the current taxi rank. In addition, my grandfather organized the regatta field and located the buoys and flags that delimited it.
Thanks to him, among others, the flame of that annual competition was maintained, until the competition with 5-meter boats, dedicated exclusively to regattas, was organized, in which my grandfather participated as skipper with the boat "Casa del Miedo". Thanks to his good relationship with the sailors of Playa Blanca and La Graciosa, fellow professionals, he played a decisive role in encouraging boats from these areas to participate in the San Ginés regattas. Therefore, he put his grain of sand in the creation of the Latin sailing family on the island. Later, the Island Sailing Federation was created and, later, the 8.5-meter boat regattas were also incorporated.
It is a very beautiful story that serves to remember the obligation that public administrations have to promote and encourage Latin sailing as part of our history. However, we must maintain sanity, especially in times of crisis. In the project that I presented to Puertos de Canarias, I highlight the practice of nautical sports as a key activity, maintaining the current sailing school, so Latin sailing will undoubtedly have its prominent space. But in addition, you can enjoy a cafeteria-restaurant, maintenance exercise rooms, training and entrepreneurship room, as well as cultural, artistic and cinematographic events.
Latin sailing belongs to the men and women who felt it, preserved and transmitted its values and not to those who intend to instrumentalize its history, for their own benefit or as a political platform. Let's not forget that there are alternative places on the Arrecife coast. I am a sailor.
