When Tom Jones plays the Starlite Festival in sunny Marbs, the whole of the Costa del Sol turns up! Covid had put a spanner in the works in the last two years, with many live gigs cancelled, so people were absolutely pumped to have this living legend back in their Spanish hood. Apart from the barmy army, waving their Welsh flags, fans from all over Europe attended, including Denmark, Holland, Germany & Portugal, eagerly awaiting what Tom’s ’Surrounded By Time’ tour would bring.
Following this recent studio album of his, anybody who knows Tom Jones, also knows that he is open to new sounds and beats, so quite apart from classics like ‘Delilah’ (which they played in bossanova style as a nod to being in a Latin country), and ‘Green, Green Grass of Home’, the crowd erupted when rocky ’Sex Bomb’ came along! Staying with rock/pop, he then covered Prince’s song ‘Kiss’, and needless to say, ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’ was delivered with the sexiest vocal around! However, the endlessly talented TJ managed to rap, lent his voice to some far out beats with Indian Sitar sounds, and kept true to his love of RnB & Blues itself. His band comprised of extraordinary musical talent as well, offering great solos and individual performances on the same level. No slack at any time…
On a day when temperatures reached highs of 37ºCelsius, he turned up the heat on stage at night! The Nagüeles quarry (La Cantera de Nagüeles), where the boutique festival is staged, is situated up in the mountains above Marbella and was a perfect location for Sir Tom to perform at: a little ‘far out’ and properly colourful, in particular when the spot lights hit the rock walls of the quarry surrounding the stage – it was the ultimate setting for such a unique show! The event followed strict covid guide lines, and whilst festival goers have to wear a mask during the sit-down concert, it felt just wonderful to have the stage so close and have Sir Tom perform at such close proximity, when sitting in the stalls and the VIP boxes.
It was a brilliant night out, with plenty of entertainment going on outside the auditorium after Tom’s show, so hit the start button below now to sample the atmosphere during the concert.
This is indeed one of the hippest vintage racing events in the world! All participants take it quite seriously, so to relive the glamour of the past (girls and engines, that is) everybody goes through great lengths to make it an event to remember. The action on the tarmac is also super exciting, so check the vid above to get a flavour of what it’s like to race vintage cars – and by God, is the competition fierce! (goodwood.com)
Goodwood Races
Hidden in the stunning countryside of West Sussex, Goodwood house and estate are set across 12,000 acres and is considered one of England’s greatest sporting estates. The Duke of Richmond hosts the spectacular and historic events this estate has become famous for and they really are a must-note on any social calendar. The well-established estate has developed over decades to provide the perfect backdrop for thrilling sporting events, whilst also being able to offer a whole host of additional hospitality year-round!
Goodwood’s Famous Races
Festival of Speed – The Festival of Speed is considered by Goodwood to be ‘The world’s largest automotive garden party’, that alone is enough to sell it to us! having celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018, this is a well-loved event and draws in crowds of around 200,000 people each year, it is an event not to miss. It has been designed to be a total celebration of motorsport, allowing guests to get up close to both cars and bikes as they zoom up a hill climb track. On top of this, guests have the chance to meet some of the most famous faces in racing today from across F1 and MotoGP, what more could you ask for? However, the Festival of Speed is not just for petrol heads and car fanatics, it really is great for the whole family. As an added benefit, kids under 12 go free! With some top-class hospitality, Goodwood Estate really do know how to host an event!
Goodwood Revival – Take a step back in time and explore the historic race meeting that is Goodwood Revival! This event is completely staged in a period theme and recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. The current Duke of Richmond opened this event in 1998, and it is the only historic race meeting to be hosted in a period theme. With the aim of recreating both the fashions and culture of the post-war years, this unique event is not just about historic race cars. Although not compulsory, we love the element of dress up Goodwood Revival allows its guests to take part in. Women could choose to go as a 40s housewife, 50s rock chick, or 60s Carnaby Street Fashionista! While men could choose 40s RAF Air Crew, 50s Teddy Boy, or 60s Mod Men Fashion. This element of the event really makes for a unique and spectacular affair. See you there!
Experiences at Goodwood
Whether you want to hit the racetrack, golf course, restaurant, or even the skies, Goodwood have a huge choice of experiences to book for you and your loved ones. Get an afternoon tea booked in at their famous restaurant for your special event or treat the golfer in your life to a special birthday round. Here are just some of the spectacular experiences you can book:
Flying lessons
Golfing with a pro
Spa Packages
Clay Shooting
Dining at Farmer, Butcher, Chef – Goodwood’s flagship restaurant
The History of Goodwood: England’s Greatest Sporting Estate
As expected, Goodwood is rich in history, with the first Duke of Richmond buying the house in 1689, starting as a gentlemen’s residence. Over the years each Duke ,who took residency, saw to expand this vast estate. By the end of World War 2 the wartime Westhampnett Airfield was modified to become the famous Goodwood Motor Circuit which was then known to be Britain’s most prestigious circuit for an astounding eighteen years from 1948-1966.
By the 50s the 10th Duke of Richmond, as chairman of the Goodwood Group of Companies, saw the Goodwood Estate go from strength to strength. Overseeing the development of the racecourse and hosting the renowned international dressage championships for an incredible 21 years. Throughout the post-war years, Goodwood was slowly earning its well-deserved title as ‘England’s Greatest Sporting Estate’.
Taking us up to the modern day, the current Duke of Richmond strives to keep the Goodwood Estate a special place to be throughout the year, whilst bringing it into the 21st century with digital events and livestreams, the dedication is clear to see. Goodwood really is one of the best places to visit for all round thrills and experiences. The sporting events and hospitality are second to none and keep guests coming back year on year. All there is left for us to say is, get yourself down to Goodwood!
R-E-S-P-E-C-T! This race is not for the faint-hearted, mastering the Atlantic Ocean single-handedly…on your own…solo skippering…racing against time and your opponents.
The start point is the beautiful French port of Saint-Malo in Brittany on the English Channel coast, destination is Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles. A huge and dangerous ocean lies between these two harbours and winning is everything. TA-DAH.TV was at the race start to catch the vibe and sample the atmosphere.
Taking place every 4 years, this race pushes singlehanded sailors to the max. Thousands of punters lined the harbour and coastline to see the boats off to give their captains courage. Over the years, the boats have dramatically improved and it’s a mighty impressive view, as they don’t just to make it to Guadeloupe, but to hopefully win as well. What is also impressive, is the fact that more and more women are taking part these days. Talk about courage, ambition and ability – it’s genderless, and these women sailors prove it, including Ellen MacArthur, who came first twice: once in 1998 in her monohull of 50-feet and again in 2002 in Imoca monohull . Watch our video now and check out the race progress and individual stories at the race’s online portal as well (routdurhum.com)
Route du Rhum – The Ultimate Race for Solo Sailors
The Frenchmen Michel Etevenon created this exciting race La Route du Rhum > Destination Guadeloupe in 1978. 44 years on it is still known as the queen of transatlantic solo races, pushing skippers to their utmost ability. Bringing together the largest fleet in ocean sailing to the same start line, to offers a chance to professional and amateur sailors alike the chance to make history by covering a distance of 3,542 miles or 6,562 kilometres to Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe.
Having become the most legendary of singlehanded transatlantic yacht races, it has not lost any of its magic or popularity over the years through its incredible diversity of classes and skippers. These days 6 categories are admitted to the start line, comprising of 6 boat categories: Ultim32/23, IMOCA, Ocean50, Class40, Rhum Multi & Rhum Mono. The winning race time in 2022 was achieved by Charles Caudrelier in his Maxi Edmond de Rothchild Ultim, who crossed the finish line in a hugely impressive 6 days, 19 hrs, 47 minutes and 25 seconds. Francois Gabart followed a few hours later in 2nd place, having sailed the Atlantic in 6 days, 23 hrs, 3 minutes, 15 secs and Thomas Coville came 3rd with a race time of 7 days, 6 hrs, 37 mins and 25 secs. Veteran Francois Joyon came a very impressive 4th – nous te saluons, Francois!
The 40th anniversary of the race saw other records broken as well with 1,35 million visitors turning up at the race village before the race even took off. A record number of 123 sailors entered the race, with a record number of women skippers taking part that year. The architects Marc van Pethegem & Vincent Lauriot-Prévost saw their 8th consecutive success with their multihull designs, which is nothing short of remarkable. First, Florence Arthaud won the race in one of their designs in 1990, and her boat provided the master plan for subsequent winners, including Franck Cammas, Loïck Peyron & Francis Joyon.
6 Boat Categories – All In Excess Of 39ft
IMOCA
The Imoca class comprises of ocean racing monohulls with a length of 60ft. It’s the IMOCAs that race in the Vendée Globe and are considered to be experimental boats. With more than 30 years of technological innovation, creators have been able to improve keels, sail plans, cockpits, the coach roof, and most recently include foils too – exciting times!
OCEAN FIFTY
The Ocean Fifty class brings together 50-foot multihulls, having been set up in 2021 by the original Multi50 class. Over the past fifteen years, these boats have constantly developed – they should raise the competition by a considerable level, putting on real pressure on the whole fleet.
CLASS40
This class consists of 40ft monohulls, aiming to establish a race programme with ocean and coastal races for experienced amateur racers, who are able to compete alongside pro racers. Set up as a joint programme between sailors and designers, planning on ocean-racing fit boats fitting in between the 6.50 mini racers and 60-foot boats.
ULTIM32/23
Make no mistake, these boats are FAST! These giants of the sea represent the leading category of the Route du Rhum and are, of course, expect them to cross the finish line in Guadeloupe first. These boats are designed to smash records, taking up the most extreme challenges. They are amongst the newest boats in the race, including the SVR-Lazartigue, the Banque Populaire XI maxi and the Sodebo Ultim 3.
RHUM MONO
Comprising of monohulls in excess of 39ft, these boasts, which are not able to enter any other class, they make up a rather wide range of vessels, from prototypes to more historic vessels. With boats in this class ranging from between 40ft – 60ft, add to that builds ranging from between 1967 to 2011, they will certainly add some excitement to the race.
RHUM MULTI
Measuring less than 64ft for two or three hulls, this is the class in which Florence Arthaud won ’the Rhum’ in 1990 aboard ‘Flo’! Highly competitive, this category could easily turn out like a race within a race and should through this Atlantic challenge wide open.
Saint-Malo Village
13 days of special events precede the race start, such is the hype! Each class will have its own parade day for visitors to get to know the boats, and for the first time ever, the Ultim boats, being the giants of the sea and which previously found it hard to dock in the port, are joining the rest of the fleet being able to moor in the Vauban and Duguay-Trouin docks, now grouped together along the famous race quays close to the city walls. The city is looking forward to welcome keen enthusiasts and sailing fans once again in their millions.
The historic Breton city of Saint-Malo was built between the 17th and 18th centuries and stands out because of its beauty and architectural and environmental heritage. Staying true to its authentic character, the port city has always expressed its passion for the sea in the past and with the Route du Rhum found the perfect vehicle to be put firmly on the map of the European-wide sailing community. As a place associated with great navigators, explorers, discoverers, privateers, fishermen and famous ocean racers, Saint-Malo has been hosting major sailing race events for over four decades – the Route du Rhum has set sail there for 44 years, as we release our programme.
Europe’s professional cycle races span over a dozen countries, spread all over the continent. Many of them have a long lasting history, bot more over: follow their trails and you’ll see the most stunning countrysides the land has to offer. Varying in degrees of difficulty, each race has tough legs to master and charming countrysides to enjoy. Fiercely competitive, the larger, world famous races like the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and La Vuelta de España, are enjoyed with fans in their millions. However, smaller races are still enjoyed with a massive fanbase to show for and the pride and joy of their respective countries.
Following the UCI’s race calendar will take you to Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland and The Netherlands, other than the ‘Big 3’ being France, Italy and Spain, where thousands of loyal spectators line the roads to cheer on their favourite riders and teams. Winning is often a dream that’s been a life-long pursuit, whilst tough training schedules can take over not just the athlete’s life, but that of whole families – cycling is loved that much in Europe.
The balance between weight and physical power is a never ending struggle, so winning is massive. However, winning more than once, proving real staying power, is the stuff that dreams are made of for any rider. A pro cyclist will race around 10.000 kilometres, races around 80 days and is away from home around 220 days a year…that’s not too bad, one might think, when annual earnings can reach up to 5 Million Euros in prize money and sponsorship deals. The world’s top riders, and therefore earners, in the men’s category are great cycling talents such as Peter Sagan (GER), Chris Froome (GB), Geraint Thomas (GB), Vincenzo Nibali (IT), Egan Bernal (COL), Fabio Aru (IT), Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), Julian Alaphilippe (FRA), Alejandro Valverde (ESP), Richard Carapaz (EQU), Thibaut Pinot (FRA), Primož Roglic (SLO), Tadei Pogacar (SLO), Tom Dumoulin (NED), Fernando Gaviria (COL), Greg Van Avermaet (NED).
Here’s a shout-out to all the girls, who are striving to make a name for themselves in this male dominated sport! The UCI is therefore working hard to promote gender equality, having created a Women In Cycling Guide to assist National Federations to promote actions and strategies for the development of women in cycling in their respective countries. Gender equality is one of the pillars for the UCI 2022 agenda, so watch this space… (uci.org)
