Sailing in Terror

It's too bad it took the tragedy of 9/11 to awaken most of us in the U.S. to a reality that the rest of the world has lived for many years...terrorism stalks the globe in many forms but some of the most deadly and notorious are the Basque separatists (known as the ETA) from northern Spain. The Sydney News Herald is reporting that a suspected member of ETA planned to gather information on installations for the America's Cup sailing competition in the eastern port city of Valencia...with a view to a possible bomb attack. I'll leave the details to the article but terror and sailing don't, to my knowledge, have much of a history...aside from the occasional run-in with modern day pirates (mostly off the coasts of poorer countries) and, of course, the terror of a gale at 3:00 AM in the middle of the ocean - which can be somwhat mitigated by a well found vessel and a steady, well rested crew. It's not suprising, though somewhat sad, to discover that the reality of terrorism has invaded nearly every aspect of modern life and that sailing is no exception.