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(Photo
Courtesy: Andrea Francolini)
"We ended up in Seattle in the USA instead of in
Australia," says Piesker, who takes up the story.
"We were on a British Airways flight at 5.00am, going
to Sydney, Australia, we thought!"
"We had booked a flight from Hamburg to London and
then a direct flight to Sydney at a travel agency; we said
we wanted to go to Sydney. We booked a rental car and
everything.
"I saw that Sydney was spelt Sidney on the ticket,
but I thought it was just a typing mistake. We had our
Australian visas in our hands - nobody said this was the
wrong place. We arrived in Seattle and we were told 'there
is no flight to Sydney, Australia."
The town of Sidney is in Montana in the USA, and this is
where Piesker and his troop would have ended up, had there
not been a stop in Seattle!
"Everyone was very friendly to us though," said
Schlonski. "They booked a hotel for us and we had a
very good night sight-seeing," he said. The only
damage, it appears, was to their pockets, so family and
friends from Germany sent money so the four could pay for
tickets to their original destination of Sydney.
"The plan was to arrive in Sydney to get to Terrigal
on the 23rd, but instead we got here on the 25th at 11.30pm.
The biggest problem really, was getting four seats from
Seattle to Sydney," Piesker told. They are still
bemused by their experience and are glad to have finally
touched down in Terrigal, at The Haven, where the Laser
World's are being hosted by Gosford Sailing Club.
Although only one of the three will make it to the
Olympics, the Laser World's being the decider, all three
sailors are very good friends. "We all live in one
house, train, eat and do everything together," said
Kamrath. I asked did they share one girlfriend, which
produced laughter and a big NO.
"I am very proud to be coach of this team. One of
the guys has to finish top ten here and he will get the
Olympic place," Piesker said. The three sailors, aged
19, 22 and 27 years old, agree that whichever one gets the
place, the other two will support him. That's special. |
