Vela Latina on the Canary Island

The young santacrucero who reached the top in the sport of sailing. Javier Hernández Cebrian was born   november   26, 1983 (age 33) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Has a height of 1.86 meters and weighs more or less 81kg . "All started when   my brothers and my cousins were sailing when I was very small and I was going to see them and to bother a little by the nautical ... Until 8 years old I got on a boat and now everything revolved around the sport of sailing in my life."    With 31 years of age, he decided to leave the official competition and dedicate himself to coaching and teaching young people the secrets of a sport that one day kidnapped:  "Now I work preparing boys for the Olympic Games in other countries and you can´t   imagine the passion they have And as they rain and concentrate, I myself am surprised at how far we can go and how far I got"     .

The regatta calendar follows the annual cycle of the winds, taking place in the period between March and October. Within the calendar there are three official competitions: on one side is the "Pegas Championship" where the boats face each other, then the "Elimination Tournament", and finally the "Gran Canaria Cup".    The day of the race, usually on Sundays, is a real spectacle, since the event itself concentrates a considerable number of people around the Maritime Avenue of the capital, arriving to collapse this one, in many of the occasions And is that the special features of the Bay of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, allow fans to see the competition from the ground.    The race follows a path between the fishing district of San Cristobal and Playa de las Alcaravaneras. The compe titions are made on a predetermined route and marked with buoys, which allows navigation to different courses, while the boats make a one-way route.  

    The competition is based mainly on two grounds: to arrive the first, or to make the best time, depends on the trophy that is being disputed. The canoe of Vela Latina is a real feat of naval architecture, since it is very complicated to keep sailing. It measures 6.55 m in length, 2.37 in sleeve and 1.35 in strut. The sail, of great dimensions whose obligatory form must be triangular (hence its name of "Latin"), can get to boast between 12 and 13.5 m. The stick, which has to be of wood and round, has a light plasticization on its exterior. All this disproportion makes this boat can’t keep afloat without the skill of the crew, whose components must use all their strength to move ballast and maneuver.        The fabric in the candle is essential, and this choice is based on durability. This is achieved by using thick and low stretch fabrics. We talk about materials like dacron. On the other hand we must not forget the performance that gives us the can...

  These sailboats are not exclusive to the island's coast, but correspond to a type of boat that was widely used in the Mediterranean. It is believed that its origin could be on the banks of the Nile, and that from there the sailors and the merchants were in charge of spreading its use by all the Mediterranean.     This boat with a triangular sail and a wooden helmet is called “falucho” or “faluca”, and is widespread on the Mediterranean coasts of North Africa and the Red Sea. In the Canaries, this boat was used for fishing and for transporting people and merchandise from the ocean to the coast People sailing on the "Vela Latina" boat.    The origin in the Canary Islands occurred in the Island in Gran Canaria, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The Vela Latina is related to the birth of “El Puerto de la Luz” in 1883. At that time many ships arrived to the capital and to transfer to the passengers and merchandise of the boats small boats were used ...