The Isle of Wight will host its first ever Israeli sailing team this weekend, as Team Israel joins the UK, Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands to compete for the Commodores' Cup.
When Team Israel captain Amir Brand initially spoke to veteran racing yachtsman Richard Loftus about running an Israeli team in the competition, he imagined keeping a low profile, as this is the first time ever that an Israeli team has entered a major international sailing regatta.
"The idea was to fly the Israeli flag on the Isle of Wight and get through the competition without making a laughing stock of ourselves,” Mr Brand said. “I saw this as a first step to promoting big boat sailing among Israeli youth and putting on some international regattas in Herzliya."
Championship-winning boat owner David Franks, inspired by his first ever visit to Israel, volunteered his boat Strait Dealer, and two more top boats signed up for the Israeli team, making up the three boats needed per team to compete in the Commodores' Cup.
The three boats will be renamed the Dan Israel, Carlton Tel Aviv and Daniel Herzliya for the event.
Israel's big-boat debut is thanks to Mr Loftus, a former winner of the Fastnet offshore race and owner of the Swan Desperado. He found British and Israeli angel investors to finance the project and helped secure the boats for the event.
More than 60 Israelis eager to join the crew were interviewed before the team was picked. "In Israel we have a good base of dinghy sailors, but apart from myself no one had continued to go onto racing in big boats," said Mr Brand.
The 15 Israelis selected to compete in Cowes next week include Paralympics coach Alon Dagan; new immigrant Valeri Sushko, a former member of Ukraine's 470 national team; and two women: Dana Gur and Tal Eitan. The Israelis will be joined by a dozen English sailors including the skippers of the three boats; Commodores' Cup rules say that 50 per cent of the crew must come from the country being represented. The international crew have struck up a great team rapport already, with the English adept at calling out "sababa" or "yoffee" when things are going well.
To win the cup, Team Israel must sail in 10 inshore races, a 65 mile race around the Isle of Wight, and a 200 mile race in the English Channel.
The omens look good after the team finished second in the Lymington Cup last week.
And in true Israeli style, while standard fare for teams competing in the regatta revolves around ham and cheese sandwiches, the Israeli team has imported its own chef. So while sailing around the Isle of Wight over the coming week, the Israelis will be feasting on freshly baked pita, hummus, tehina, schwarma and eggplant.
Mr. Loftus said, "I really think we can win this - or at least be on the podium - but the longer term goal is to put Israel on the sailing map, train youth, and hold regattas and competitions there."
To get more from Life, click here to sign up for our free Life newsletter.