On the road...

Last weekend we took the two boats to Ratzeburg, some 140km east from our home. 7 Moths attended the races over the weekend. It was a first for the club but with Sven K, known to most international Mothies as the "fast German", it was easy for him to get an alternative in his homeclub for a cancelled regatta in Goldberg. The wind was cooperating only with the local, Sven foiled most of the time, whilst myself and others did a lot of low riding in between moments of good breeze.

The Ratzeburg fleet, namely Jens S. had prepared really nice prices for the price giving which was held on the Sunday after we had decided, due to lack of wind, to call it a day. Sven won, me second, Kerstin and Jens on equal points and count back in third place, Helmuth fourth and newcomer Merlin in fifth. Hans from Denmark with his new Mach 2 was not able to compete on Saturday, due to his cambers jumping off anytime he righted the boat. He was really frustrated. He had bought a M2 with all options from England but it looked like the previous owner and never been out on the water, just tinkering with the boat and putting on many gimmicks. The camber thing was corrected in the evening and the boat was stripped from a few unnecessary ropes to make it more easy to sail for Hans. To correct the sail setting, we used my last spacers... Felix did you order a hundred as promised???

Tomorrow we are sailing the "blue ribbon" with some kids from our youth group on the 36db. I had some divers in today to clean the bottom and took away a lot of weight. All the cruising gimmicks, Sprayhood, second anchor, chain, carpets, cushions, and all the wine. I prepared the carbon racing jib and we will see how she goes within her Yardstick group. Really looking forward to a last sunny day on the "big boat" with nice breeze. After that, she´ll be readied for winter storage.

Zhik Moth German Open

A great championship with participants from Denmark, Holland, Sweden and of course all the German Top Guns had been sailed between 26th of Aug until Sunday 28th. 10 races in three days at a mostly very windy venue. The PRO was not shy to lay a long course over the lake and mixed the program up with a number of different rounds to be sailed. Anja, of Mottenfieber Sailing TV fame, has again taken great shots and survived 3 windy days on a pram to bring some of the action straight into our homes. In the name of all participants, Anja: Thank you very much.

Look for the Friday and Saturday races no further than here:
Zhik Moth German Open at Lake Wittensee, Friday/Saturday

Look for the very windy (gusts up to 25kn) Sunday fotos here:
Wittensee, the windy Sunday

And look for the attending persons during the price giving here:
German Open, Price Giving

Again, my sincere thanks to Anja. She is a real class act.

Foto courtesy: Anja R.

Improve your German language...

The latest German Moth Newsletter, called "Der Falter" is out for easy download. Many thanks to Nina for all the work she has done and the incredible improvement to have it in color. Der Falter

Hope to see all you Scandinavians and Dutch friends on the annual German Moth Championship on Lake Wittensee, near Kiel. A great location usually prefered by Int 14s and the 505 class. Look out for the Invitation and program, coming out soon, on the German Moth Site

The Ninja Days

Been busy with boat and entertainment prep and already this morning with tinkering on the boat to find a little bit more speed.

For updates you do not need to go any further as to: bristol-moths. Mike Cook, despite some mishapes during the windy day managed some great reporting. It is Markus on his MACH2 , who is matching with the Ninja´s and the open competition is enjoyed by everyone. Look for the results sheet at: Ergebnisse nach 8 Wettfahrten

Believe me, I am fighting to not become last in this tough competition with everyone having real good boat handling and course management. Gone are the days of Moth´s capsizing all over the course.

UPDATE: 3 races yesterday in marginal conditions (70% lowriding) for me and some others. NEvetheless we had good racing at the end of the fleet. Adjustments have to be corrected on some of the boats and there is lots going on in Camp Moth at present. It had been a day for the under 72 kg guys and gals.

What a great day, sunny and windy!

Yeah Alan, your wish came true. Wind and sun in Travemünde for the day....and maybe tomorrow as well.

We got held ashore until 14.00h when the announcement came via the public system that the first starting signal (all classes) will be at 15.25h. A bit if a surprise here in the "Kuhle" as the wind just does not come in. A look outside surprised many of us. Great seabreeze from the North/East. I had been nearly first on the beach but after forgetting my "Sign out" and a long way to the board to do, my time buffer was gone. Nearly last out on the water and a great upwind sail to the starting area. It was easy to sail upwind so I ended high above the line and realized some problems going down. No, not of technical nature, just the mind set and the inability to just "send it". I nearly ran down a Police boat, lying square in my course as I ran out of option staying on foils and I splashed badly. I gave it one or two more tries but my mind had already decided to hot the road for home. The waves had been builded up too much for me. The wind was just perfect 15 kn but the rollers from the North knocked my will, of staying out and racing, down.

I sailed home which was not bad and maybe you know the feeling after such a day. Everybody has a smile and some great stories to tell about wave height, max speed, great starts etc.Some had to hit the shore early but the majority of the fleet "must have" sailed three races. The list is not out yet, maybe later at: http://travemuender-woche.resultsl

The full stories of the day on the water, Ihave no doubt, will be on Cookies blog: The Brits put in some great results and they shall speak for themselves. Look at: bristol-moth blog, The Ninjas.

Before I forget: What a great demonstrations some Germans, Brits and Swiss sailors were putting in after the races, right in front of the "public meile" on the Trave, opposite the "PASSAT". Flying tacks!!, gybes, criss crossing like a Moth swarm. One swiss sailor got applauded loud from hundreds of people for showing a "running on water" stunt. Simon and Bora style. Impressive. The whole thing had been moderated from Gerd Girschkowsky, who is famous here in the North for good and fair sports reports. He was on top of the job. Thanks Gerd.

Pictures from Anja, Mottenfieber.de will be out later on the Nordea Moth European 2011 site at: imoth.de/euro2011

No change of action in T´muende

Sitting here in my Van in the late afternoon rain, I am reading about a great report about a trip through the sunny Med. Keeps me warm: medcrossing in a 'Mini 6.50´ This guy has a very fresh and subjective look at things. Read some of his older posts.

If you want to keep up with the Moth action at the Nordea Moth Europeans 2011 and want to get some more inside info, go to: bristol-moths.

Foto is taken straight out of the window of the Van and shows camp Moth in the "Kuhle".

If you have time to waste...

From the last weekend regatta, the "Carbon- Motte". Anja just published hers and other photographers photos on Picasa. There are some great shots and the winner in posing is again Hannes. What is it, that makes him always looking smart on the photos. If you see him foiling and being so relaxed on his Bladerider, don´t you think, you also want one? Anyone looking out for a used boat to start with, here is a linky: Used Moths for sale

And if you have time to waste, have a look here:

87 photos from Anja on: Anja´s Photos
92 photos from Randolf: Randolf´s Photos
49 photos from Andri: Andri´s Photos

Thank you Anja for all your great work for the Moth Class. Thank you again to all participants and especially for all those who helped us with all sorts of things, hands on, to make this a great event. A truly regatta from sailors for sailors. Hope to see you all again in October and I can promise you already now: a "Sauna on the beach".

DN Racing in Denmark

What a great weekend we have had in Roskilde, Denmark, racing for the Seeland Championship or whatever it was called. Photo credit to Sejlfoto.dk And I got back into it. Got back my grin and will not compare it with the summer Mothing again, to say which is better for me, like I showed doubts about the Iceboating still being my favorite in my last post. No, you cannot compare, you should not. It is all very special and it is both rewarding to the work and time which you have to give into both sports. I am such a lucky guy to be here on Mother Earth, still being in decent shape and to discover it and to enjoy it. Sailing on hard water and foiling on the soft one.

For people being interested in more details about how DN regattas on ice come about, I would suggest reading John Casey´s last bit on his blog. A great sailor and journalist himself, he had been invited to take part in the 2011 DN World Championship in the USA, also held last weekend, whilst me and 40 other sailors from Denmark, Netherlands and Germany where sailing in Roskilde. Good and tough competitions in both events.

And as this blog entry is appearing on the IMCA site, I like to present my friends from both worlds two videos which I found to be very interesting to look at. Especially for people who are following the discussions on SA.com about Bora´s Wing. Enjoy and see you next time on the water. Hard or soft.

For the Moth Wing Video:

For the DN Video from Roskilde:

Everyone is a Winner...

...at least on this page accept myself, as I am not one of the winners. Not a winner in terms of NOT having a picture of myself on this blog entry as there is none sailing picture available. Haven´t been able to sail one of the 8 great races which the International Moth fleet, who gathered here in Schleswig, sailed in great conditions past weekend. My bad luck had been two major breakdowns. On Saturday the MACH2 bow fitting did not allow me to participate, as breaking before the races even got started, and on Sunday the day was finished for me and my "old faithful" the BR X8, after the first race, where I might have hit something on the downwind. A log of wood slightly under water or something which knocked on my main foil which I lost later during the second start sequence. Very bad.

As I am sure you will find the complete results list and a report on the Mottenfieber site, I will not bore you with the details about the sun, the wind and the fun everybody had. You can see yourself if you follow the link to the photo book: All Photos courtesy by Andreas Borrink who did a great job on Saturday, running 4 races as PRO together with Johan and Jonie and also finding the time to take these 400 selected shots. Andreas and the young Johan and Jonie: you are always welcome in the Moth fleet. We appreciate your efforts to work with us and to understand the Grand Prix finish which made it possible to run 8 races in two days. Our thanks also goes to Philipp who worked as the PRO on the race committee on Sunday.

Edit: Not everyone might know. If you click on Diashow, the fotos appear in full screen in great quality.

Great sailing, 4 Races on the Saturday

We had four great races on the Schlei. Wind at around 20kn and 3 laps up and down. Sven is leading with 4 first and Burkh is on his heels.12 competitors who really enjoyed it. Let the pics speak for themselves

Impressions from the Startline at Silvaplana

Still on the road to do some business whilst down in the south, I can recommend to those who want to know more about the happenings at the Moth EC (with some outstanding top sailors from abroad) to read the blogs of other Mothies. (see link on the right) For my part I can only say, I have never done an event with 14 races in total. Mostly 3 races a day in the demanding Moth. With a few capsizes, usually on the downwind the body felt sore and tired already after day 2. I had given up 2 races when the wind blew over 25 knots and for the first time I stuck the tiller through the sail in one race. Getting back to shore and changing sail for the next race was not a problem.

The one thing that sticks to my mind had been the great sportsmanship and cooperativeness to help everyone who had a breakage. Parts had been lend out, laminates had been done overnight for others who had not done this before so that everyone was able to get back on the startline for the next day. Something that reminds me a lot about the spirit in the DN class. It was also motivating that some of the top sailors cared a lot about us, the rest of the fleet. For example they pushed the race organisers to extend the "open period" of the finish line from 10 to 15 minutes. Which meant that a lot more sailors were able to finish after saling the full 4 lap course instead of being timed after 2 or 3 rounds. (Grand Prix Finish)

As there are only a few sailors with more points on the scoresheet than myself, I have a lot of motivation to improve. I like the class and I just love the foiling. Markus, the top German sailor (placed 13th) analysed his result as being 2000 practice tacks short to break into the top five. For me this could mean that I need to add 2000 jibes to get a result mid fleet. We will see if this is possible.

Moth Class Championship Report

After some great foiling session with good ride height a weekend before the German Championship, I started to dismantle my BR for the trip and taking the wings off. The boat should go on the roof of the Passat to enable me to drive a little faster other than with a trailer behind the car. 1150 km should be done in one step. Alone. And it was´nt a problem. I arrived at the beautiful lake on the Thursday afternoon, assembled the boat and went sailing on Friday after the thermal breeze kicked in. It did not look too bad for me comparing speed and height with 3 other earlier arrivals though the MACH 2 sailors looked like playing it easy whilst I tried to give it all. My concentration was gone after an hour and so was the foiling jibe ability. Some swims later I called it a day.

Come race day one and after the skippers meeting I was out early (which was one of my goals for this event), as I do not find it "charming", coming late to the startline. And there had been no mercy, I mean three Moth sailors were´nt ready but the class, including me, did not go for an early start. Before us we had a good fleet of Finn´s and Star´s doing their starts and the race committee was right on time. I had an OK first upwind leg and my dearest competitors behind me (the back end of the midfleet) and nailed my first jibe and off to the downwind mark. I did not hit the layline and had to put in two more jibes and arrived at a crowed mark. Walls of sails flogging. Starboat sails. A wide rounding, good speed, less height and than my boat began some funny movements. Hobby horsing. It started slowly but got worse on the downwind course. And it got worse during the next races and I got lapped in race two and three by 4 sailors. Did not realize this in the last race of the day and had to turn back to the finish line after being a couple hundred meters upwind already. Have to keep a better look out. Sven being fast as usual and he was followed by the talented Swiss, Martin, followed by Frederik and newcomer Markus. I heart a few girlie squeaks out on the course and both Tanja and Nina had their moments of foiling. At the end of the day I had Harald behind me on the list and we watched the Football game and a great German team beating Argentine. Later on we came together for the annual meeting and the usual discussions about how to attract more sailors into our class ended late at night.

Come Sunday and one more race. A pity that the program was written in stone as the day was just great, the water clear and green and the thermal breeze had kicked in though all reports said it should not and we should have thunderstorms. I had a bad race, the amplitude of up (flying) and down (touching the water with the hull) nearly made me seasick and I was happy to finish the race and did not enjoy the long ride home on foils very much. My boat and I can do better but I have to find out first what made her sailing like that. Something within the system must have come sticky. From the road transport? Dirt in the rod tubing? I had played with adjustments of about 8 turns (not at once) on the ball socket joint but it made no difference. Harald beat me and revanche will be sweet.

For the next fourteen days I will be cruising with the family in the Baltic Sea. No foiling, no boat work. In the meantime I hope that my boatbuilder will be able to do some maintenance jobs on the carbon frame tubing which all looks a bit tired and thinned out at the joints. After coming back I might attend the Moth racing in Horsens to meet with the Danish Bandits. A report in German language is available under: mottenfieber.de. Photo courtesy to Toni Mangold. Me and my boat do not look like "porpoising", don´t we? Just flying a little low.

Great Sailing at Lake Walchensee

We had some fun in the sun! Finn´s, Star´s and Moth´s sailed four great races on this beautiful lake. A report will follow later. Enjoy the Foto from Toni Mangold. Click it to enlarge it.

German Moth Class Championship coming soon...

German Championship is around the corner. It will be sailed in the beginning of July down south in Bavaria, on Lake Walchensee. German Championship link. They say it is a beautiful lake (which Google Earth proves) with good thermal breeze. Kind of a Mini Garda. So let´s see. At present there are only 11 participants on the entry list but I know of at least a couple more who will show up. For me the questions is: Shall I put some reports into my blog about my great training days, which went well with the boat flying nice and level after upgrading the AoA, or keep a low profile, as a regatta some 1100 km away from home always puts some strain on the pilot and maybe also on the boat from the road transport. Vibration is the nr. 1 road transport problem for a DNF. Some screws, one might not have checked carefully enough when arriving late at the racing site, might come loose. This being one of the reasons, I do not want to put my own expectations too high. Especially when there are a couple of new participants at the start line. In the Moth class a lot can happen. What sticks with me since I am racing this boat is the great anticipation. Looking forward to the event. Loading up the boat (roof or trailer) and gear. Can´t wait to start the engine.

On another note, tomorrow we are sailing our fifth Wednesday night race this season with the Bull. We managed to come first into the finish all the last races and also won on elapsed time. (Only keel boats on the starting line) It is only Rod and me sailing the boat at present and we had luck with the wind, which had been light. It is also the new mainsail with a bit more roach which gives us power and the calm sailing style which Rod and I have adapted lately.

Great Moth Racing last Weekend

We had nine participants in the Moth class, racing here on the Schlei last weekend. As you can see from the photo, taken on Sunday, it shows that at least 50% had been lowriding but nevertheless it was racing. If I am turning into a good lowrider, I do not know. One could get the impression. Being the most heavy sailor, I managed to come second, behind Sven our German Moth hero. Unbeatable for the rest of us. At least at present. I think with his new boat he has even gained more advantage to the rest of the fleet. He only faltered in the second race when I had a home run. First for me and 5th of Sven. Our Danish friends also enjoyed the sailing on the Schlei though they expected more breeze here in the north of Germany. Results and some German comments you can find here: Results & Comments We will meet again in Horsens, DK and at Lake Silvaplana at the European´s. I can only hope that I will be able to improve my jibing. With summer now arrived it does not look for much breeze at the next weekend.

Oh, before I forget. Here is one for the music fans. I am going to see Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood tonight. I am not sure if they perform together (didn´t they do in the group called TRAFFIC?) or if they have both single acts with their band. Clapton is not 100% my music but Winwood is a must see. And since I have missed the great concert of the Supergroup Traffic who had Spooky Tooth playing the first act, many, many moons ago, I promised myself to go and see Winwood, the next time he is around. Geeez, is this now 41 years later? Am I sitting in a time machine? Sailing and Music are tw wonderful things which one can perform for a whole lifetime, me thinks.

Moth Fest Report

Saturday, 22nd of May, 10.30h, high Altitude above the clouds on my way home from the Moth Fest. Yes, flying in the Air and not flying on the foils as most of the other participants will just do in the final races at the Moth Fest in Mar Menor. What an incredible week it was. I had arrived last Sunday just in time for the briefing given by Simon Payne and Alan Hillman. I had missed the Paela but than I did not had to assemble my boat as I had chartered one of Alan´s well prepared Bladeriders. I will not be able to report day by day as the days flew by quicker than I can remember. There was sailing everyday and there were lectures and training and a mixture of fun races. The last one will stick in my memory for long. The "around the Island and than head for beach bar" event on my last day. It was blowing 15kn and it was a long distance group flight. Not sailing for first or last but staying together as a group of 12 sailors and foiling along with 15-20kn of speed on a tight reach and than after rounding the island letting it loose on the downwind to the bar. There were some very fast Brits reaching 23+ kn on their GPS´s.

After some great laughs, a good conversation and food and drinks we hit to the water again and foiled home from the Beach Bar. The waves and wind had builded up a bit and some participants reported about nose dives later on. I had a great ride but due to the speed and splash of the water into my face I lost my ML sunshade. A pity but it was the only loss on the trip. My luagage is more heavy than on the way in as adding the Sponsors give aways and prizes, I take more things home than I got on my way out to Narejo, Mar Menor.

Tuesday, 25th, after recovering from the trip: It is the one thing which strikes my mind and gave me inspiration to this blog entry (all day by day action you can read elsewhere, go to: Moth Blogger News...) I think the heart and soul of this great event had been David Hillman. Besides giving a helping hand and tools to anyone requesting he took care of so many things in the background which made us all feel like home. The ones who had not been to Alan´s PRO-VELA sailing school before could of course not have noticed the changes in and around the place to make it most comfortable for us. From the sun umbrella to the big empty space for the rigging area and the preparation for hanging up the sails over night without de-rigging, everything was well sorted. As I was not there on the Sunday for the last prize giving and usually I am the one to bring out cheers for the organizers and helpers let me do this here: To Alan, to David and to all the Gentlemen helping out on the rescue boats: You did a phantastic job. You promissed a great event and you delivered. Three cheers and a big "HIPP HIPP HURRAY" "HIPP HIPP HURRAY" "HIPP HIPP HURRAY".

Fred's Mar Menor holiday blog

Sorry "Fred" is unable to be with you this evening...he is recuperating!

For those of you who read about Fred's antics on ice and water you probably think of him as 30-40 year old hi speed adrenalin junkie...which he is....., except for the 30-40 year old bit. Manfred would best be described as being more senior (substantially!) then Amac.

So here he is up to 4 hours a day in the Mar Menor in Southern Spain giving it heaps every day on one of our Bladeriders. The holy grail for Manfred is the 100% foiling gybe (the same for most mortals) frankly if I get to Manfreds seniority I would be bloody grateful if 1. I make it that far and 2. Am still able to get on my moth! Manfred was out last year on his own and gave me a bit of pasting in the light stuff....fortunately I have stuck a few hours at it and obviously upgraded my technology so it wouldn't happen again! So, Manfred brings out his mate Andreas........after only 3 days the guy is now foil gybing and looking really comfortable spearing it down hill...really annoying! Fate eventually played his hand and he is now sporting a fashionable shroud stripe down his face. If he foil tacks before he goes home I am giving up...here is Manfred.
Alan Hillman
Pro-Vela

UK 0044 7917 678299
Spain 0034 609 822488
E. alan@pro-vela.com
SKYPE: alanhillman
W. www.pro-vela.com

Details for the Moth Fest are out now.

Just got an e- mail form Alan, whom you can contact through his website. www.pro-vela.com
The official Moth Fest website is currently under construction. To wet your appetite here is the list of sponsors as Alan writes to me today. Looking to some great holidays, training and racing and to meet with some of you. Put it into your calendar: May 16th until May 23rd. Three days of training with the current World Campion, Simon Payne included and I guess I am getting some extra lapping from him during the races.

quote by Alan Hillman:
As we go to press the sponsors who have committed to support the event are:

Pro-Vela: My sailing school and clearly the only place to learn to fly!
CAR Infanta Cristina: The Spanish high performance sailing centre where we are based.
Roda Golf Resort: Our apartment partner
Henri Lloyd: Giving great clothing, event t-shirts and PR support.
Spinlock: Our official supplier of high quality knee pads
Marlow: Official rope partner
Harken: Official fittings partner
SP Systems: Official sponsor of Crash for cash and resin supplier
CTM: This is our German friend Manfred, (Fred on the blog!) and his company is providing some carbon kits for Crash for cash.
unquote

Looking forward to meet with you.

A Moth Weekend on the Schlei

Mid October in the North of Germany. Could be nice and warm or daring cold. We had planned a last weekend of racing before mothballing our boats. The week before the regatta date a High from Norway brought the first minus Celcius temperatures. Very chilly. The good thing with the wind from the North had been the high water in the Schlei Fjord, which lasted here a couple days. Very high, nearly 1,50m above normal and beautiful to look at. Friday morning it was pretty cold and I had put a big question mark into my diary. But there had been some pressure to go for it. We should be able to withstand a bit of cold. Maybe the sun would come out on Saturday. Hotels, the restaurant and most important the race committee, Michael and Johan from the HSVS, all had been booked and organized. Sven and Sören already in the starting blocks. No way back.

Sven (photo) arrived Friday evening and the rest of the Mothies on Saturday morning. Hans was a bit late and after we all helped him to rig his boat, we were able to hit the first race at 12.30h. The wind from the North was gusty, usually in the 4-5 Bft range with some gusts going for a six. We, the racers had no time to measure it, but Johan told us these facts at the price giving. The rigging area had been in the wind shadow and it was not only me who underestimated the wind and waves out on the race course around the corner. We sailed a test race, only one round which at the end counted for the total score as per decision from the race committee. For Hans and myself it was a DNF, we were fighting with the elements and not with our fellow competitors. Tough.

I had the great idea to start on port tack (even behind the fleet) because this would lead me to a one tack only and should give me a little advantage over the other competitors. Tacking in the waves was not easy. But I messed it up a minute before the start going into a jibe to position myself and I capzised and did not manage to come back within the last minute. It took a couple of minutes instead. Autsch. It seemed that I did not recover from this bad mistake over the next races. All my starts afterwards were bad ones except the last one when I was first and fast across the line. Holding a good lane and when Sören tried to pass from behind on my windward side, I took a little bite and Sören sank in with his foils and had to tack away. I wasn´ t really fast because before the third race I had lost my rudder foil. Sven picked it up and saved it. Thank you. But I had to sail back to the shore to attach my spare rudder. Missed one race and realized that the spare rudder did not have enough AOA, thus not allowing me to fly high enough to avoid the waves under the body or tramp on the windward side. Anyway, back to this last race. I looked good on the left side, The wind had dropped on the right side first, Sören was fighting to foil and Sven was hit by a shift on the head which should catch Sören a bit later as well. Than the wind backed for me, Sven passed me, just before reaching the mark but Sören was still behind. Hans had sailed home already due to being daring cold (and a hole in his drysuit). Happy to be on foils around the mark I kept going after the mark on starboard tack without thinking about the windshift. Jibing (oh, so bad!) after a few hundred metres, I saw that Sören had jibed straight after the mark and had nearly passed me, going low. I was now going high and fast. Scaringly fast and I went into the drink before the mark.

Sören (photo) passed, I had trouble to upright the boat. I was getting cold and had a lack of energy from the exhausting day. The next beat I did not sail at my best anymore. I zig-zagged a lot on the next downwind, wanted to be lapped by Sven to be able to sail home with the last bit of energy. Sven was not sailing at his best either. It took a long while until he lapped me. Grand Prix finishes in the Moth class do allow to finish after being lapped. A bit harder for the race committee to score but it keeps waiting times short. Sven´s boat had a problem which we later saw. The rigging was slack. He nursed it around the course, he did not want to give in though he was already the winner of the regatta. What a great sportsman he is. 20 years in the Moth and if you call a good regatta, he is there. We had a great get-together with hot drinks and beverage after the race. Well prepared by Kerstin. Again a big thank you. Well appreciated.

The next day started with white car roofs, frozen windows and boat covers, but the sun was out. Blue sky but no wind at all. We decided at around 11 o´clock to call it a day and did the price giving and usual speeches. The top four competitors (truly international with competitors from Germany and Denmark) went away with shirts or carbon cloth and epoxy adhesive from www.CTMat.de, the sponsor of this event. Everyone wants to come back to sail on the Schleifjord for another regatta. This Moth blog now hopefully rolls into a DN ice sailing blog. Winter is coming soon.
Photo credit: Michael von Forstner

Moth Regatta "Hoch im Norden" coming soon

Boatshow season and wintertime is around the corner. The first nights with a minus in front of the celcius temperatur are supposed to happen over the next 2 nights here in the North of Germany. After that it is getting warmer. Before going to mothball our Moths we are going to have a regatta on my hometurf. We will get some help from our small Sailing Club and I do hope for some more attendees other than the usual suspects. I had given the turf another good look the other day. Sailing from West to East and from North to South. We will be able to lay a good course. Not many rescue boats on hand but one from the DGZRs (German Cost Guard) is stationed here in Schleswig and the next shore is never far for those lazy maintained boats with major break downs. The Danes are coming as well as the German top Foilerman, Sven. My money would be on Burkh, if he has got his Mach 2 by now and had the time to put in some hours of practising with the new boat ...errg, the well developed boat, coming in directly from the World Championship two months ago. A clever purchase one must say.

Anyway before speculating too much into our event, let´s speculate about the weather. Nice and sunny and wind around 14kn for the Saturday. On Sunday a little foggy (only onshore of course) with the wind around the 10kn mark. Good foiling conditions. Hope to see you on my home turf at OCt. 17th and 18th. Send me a mail if you want to know the address of the HSVS in Schleswig and how to get your boat on to the Netzetrockenplatz, from where we will launch. See ya!