The Christmas of 1987 brings us a surprise and of the fat... meeting at the Fiunchal de Roade in Vigo, between Suevos and Manuel Fernández, one of the most important shipowners of the Spanish candle in its history. After this meeting the Milmi is already an owner of pure blood, by acquiring its first ship... the "Vento" a moderinisimo One Ton 30.5 designed by Tony Castro (ex-Maiden Hong Kong), who had been at the Admiral's Cup forming team with England and who had the mythical Jon Kolius to the controls

It is no longer a rented veteran ship, but a great boat of races. José Luis Suevos was launched and in January 1988 he already put on the table his planning for the full season: he will participate in the General Optic Regatta in spring, then he will do it in the turn to Asturias, he will go down to the Count of Gondomar Trophy... then with the very fair time truck to Valencia to jump to Palma de Mallorca and attend for the first time the King's Cup... Omega Dos Bahia regatta to the Port of Santa María... Sherry and go up to the Prince of Asturias Trophy.

The first encounter is in the turn to Asturias where the "Baileys" wins clearly (I had no rival of care)but in which the Milmi has a good mess with the organizers of the Maritime Astur with which it seems not to keep its promises of sponsorship... the Asturian for its part is justified not without reason, stating that the Organization had been very poor and that it had not fulfilled its contractual commitments. The truth is that Suevos did not pay, but was not the subject of any demand.

In that unforgettable round of Asturias they sail: Kankel Pintos, Ramón Ojea, Libio Arbones, Chisco Catalán, Juan Luis Tuero, César Infante, Pablo Infante... many of whom are already continuing the season with Suevos... by the way those who transport between Baiona and Gijón, with only 16 or 17 years old, were Ojea, the Infantas Brothers and Calamares... some babies'.

In the Count of Gondomar the "Baileys" first arrives in real time to the Chico Carrumeiro in the middle of a thick fog worthy of Finisterre's inlet... but the crew is afraid of doubt (without visibility, in waters full of low and with few means of accuracy in navigation, in those distant years) being forced to flatter... with Milmi's monumental horse.

We all knew that there was very little time between the Gondomar and the King's Cup... so little that we had to get the "Baileys" up to a proper platform with its head, take it to Valencia by road in a "special transport ", throw it away and from there to Palma... complicated very complicated.

Everything was going well until the Puche transport drivers were blocked near Madrid because the "Operation return" And this stop that was not planned to delay the fair transport... and it becomes impossible to get to Palma...

And what does Milmi do as a man of resources?... so rent a competition ship in Mallorca... and find that one "one German tonner designed by Judel & Vrolijk who was part of the German / Japan Team at the Admiral's Cup 1985... the I-Punkt" which had been penalized by the ORC for three years for having an illegal pumping system to pass hundreds and hundreds of litres between the two gums, adriming the ship in a fraudulent way. In the crew, the Germans only allow three Spaniards... Javier de la Gandara and the Infante brothers.

But the important thing is that Suevos had landed in Palma de Mallorca, which would impact him and in which he realized his possibilities at the level of image and professional public relations... from that very moment he does the impossible to place himself as close to Don Juan Carlos... and he realizes that it is essential to have a good ship that competes from you to you with the "Bribon."

The Swedish struggle will be to get a sponsor for a big project and win the Cup... what I would do twice, years later... when the race was the most important in the Mediterranean, I had a winner... not as it is currently a festival where the really difficult thing is not to win something, and the protagonism is diffused.

In Palma, the veterans of the "Baileys" present José Eraso... and the Asturian does not waste the opportunity to join a prestigious professional, general director no less than Puerto Portals, and who maintains an excellent relationship with Don Juan Carlos.

Having said and made within a few days his fame as eccentric entrepreneur inunulates the environments of Flanigan, Capricho... the Asturian shipowner begins to be like El Gaitero... faaamoosso in the whole world; and even the very monarch to his most intimate in the candle, refers to Suevos as the Milmi.

There is another important fact, and that is that many of the crew of the Milmi come to charge. Except for very specific events such as the Vuelta a España or the hiring of one or two professionals, read successful Olympic, foreign elite patterns... in the candle no one was charged to sail. Well, Milmi started paying a lot of that important one: a hundred thousand pesetas or more for doing a couple of races and all the expenses and Suevos was very splendid with her boys... and of course there were more than slapped to get on her boat.

From Palma to the Port of Santa Maria, and from there to Baiona to the Prince... but here are two circumstances that will mark the Milmi: in El Puerto he is friendly with one of the great professionals of the Spanish candle, Nicolás Terry... and is attracted to the beauty of the bay of Cadiz and the atmosphere that was lived in El Puerto de Santa Maria. In Baiona already very gallite, a rivalry begins with Pedro Campos; it could well end badly in one of the trials of the Trophy Prince of Asturias... extreme rivalry, but that cut a knight of the candle in dry: the great, the huge Gonzalo Romero, that did not lend to a Milmicheca madness... which cost him to be immediately removed from the "Baileys" cane.

Milmi was already barefoot, I knew it was different and he was going all over it, in our world. In 1989 its fame continues to rise and its controversial prestige is already the conidilla of the Spanish candle... Pedro Campos is no longer the Lone Ranger... Suevos uncovers his bravado and the great beneficiary is going to be our dear candle, which is going to have an exceptional atmosphere and a lot of glamour... but to get into this emblematic year, we will have to pass the sheet...

(continued)