CC MEMO -- Costa What?

"If you have to ask how much it cost, you can't afford it." Or so J. P. Morgan is reputed to have said in response to a question about how much one of his yachts cost. Morgan's Columbia defeated Shamrock in 1899 and 1901 for the America's Cup.

But back to AC 2007 -- and this post is about coast, not cost....

Recently the question has come up a number of times whether Valencia is a part of the Costa Blanca, Costa Brava or Costa del Sol. Answer: none of the above.

Spain's various coastal regions have adopted names for, one supposes, marketing purposes. No doubt there are historical connotations; perhaps one of our more erudite readers can help us there. The three Costas above must be doing a good promotional job as they seem to be fairly well known to Europeans and non-Euros alike.

Valencia, however, is part of the Costa del Azahar. Don't recall having heard or read that name until coming across the map below.



Valencia is on the Costa del Azahar. Gandia, where K-Challenge has been
based, and Calpe (below) are on the Costa Blanca south of Valencia.


Speaking of promotion, the Costa Blanca was a sponsor of the ISAF World Match Racing Championship which took place this week in Calpe, a 90-minute drive south of Valencia. Pierre Orphanidis has a nice photo-essay about the event on his Valencia Sailing website, from which I took the liberty of lifting the great photo below. Congrats to Luna Rossa's James Spithill who took the title in the "non-final" with Alinghi's Ed Baird.



The ISAF Match Racing Worlds at Calpe, Spain this week. The Costa Blanca was a prominent sponsor. (Click on the photo to enlarge.)