Name: Alex

Born in: Lisbon, in 1965

Position: Skipper/Boat Captain

Son of a tall ship sailing instructor, (his father was the sail instructor officer in the German Sailing school ship the “Gorch Fock”), Alex at a very young age showed a call to the sea and had the ocean in his veins.

Whilst his family’s traditional activity were horses, Alex never showed much interest in horses and would go to the beach each day to watch the sea and the boat..many times skipping school to his mother’s discontent..Alex would spend countless hours building boat models.

During his young age, and while he lived with his father (also Andy’s father), Alex would go to the sea in the family boat.

However later, aged 12, and no longer living with his father,  Alex asks his grandfather to take him to a sailing school as he wanted to learn to sail.

The Club of choice was the old Clube Naval de Paco d’Arcos, where Alex started sailing in boats such as the extinct Lusito , the rare “chata” and Vaurien.

Alex learnt to sail with an old legend of the Portuguese sailing clubs, Mr. Lopes, whom Alex remembers could row faster in a dinghy than we could sail, and used to hit us in the back with a plastic oar!! Damn old man!!

Whilst at the Paco D’Arcos, Alex sailed other boats, such as the Snipe, the Vaurien, Mirror, Dolphin, Tornado Catamarans and Hobbie Cats 14, 16 and one 18.

After a small disagreement with the club, Alex’s grandfather, a friend of the Brites brothers from  Alges, now deceased,  acquires for him an older Spanish 470, that Alex sailed for several years.

Alex raced in several National and  Regional Championships in Snipe and 470, and went twice to Cadiz, Spain for the Iberian Championships, where he once raced against the sons of the King of Spain.

Alex made 2 times the Volta de Faro, a multi class race that was quite famous back in the old years.

Alex raced a few seasons with this boat and in 1983 Alex met a friend whose father owned a Start 7, and moved to bigger boats in Belem.

He also crewed on many other larger boats, and on any boat he could get on in the Tagus River, in Lisbon. During these times, and for a few times, he crewed on boats such as the Smeralada Prima, and raced in a friends Dragon a few times.

Having interrupted sailing while he attended the military service and later university, Alex owned a wooden Fire Ball dinghy that he raced in England for two seasons.

In 1995, Alex returns to sailing, and along with his wife acquired several boats they raced on and off.

In 2006, after conversations with Delmar Conde, Alex commissions Giulietta, and the boat and crew started racing more seriously in the fall of 2008.

Alex’s tradition is to buy his crew the drinks when they race and lose, but also buys the drinks when they race and win..

Alex collects cigars as a hobby, and loves radio controlled planes and helicopters.

For a few years on his life, Alex was a commercial pilot and flew a Cessna 402 Businessliner,  as Captain, out of Tires, Portugal, for the Onassis Family.