18 (days of sailing) and some ramblings...

Looking for a picture of the number 18 to replace my "days of sailing in 2009" - a couple of pictures from 18 years old people came up. Yoh, dreamin about being 18 years old and going Mothing. Maybe doing a foiling jibe within the first hour of sailing. Yes, some did. But not this old dude, Still trying but not really hard enough.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the two days of sailing last weekend. Though on Saturday the preparations took longer thatn the actual time on the water. I was lured back to the shore as I was waiting for friends who wanted to pass by on their way home from Hyeres, France, back to Estonia. All on the road. Laser on the roof, RIB on the trailer. That really is a long haul. Nearly Eastcoast to Westcoast in the US, but lot´s more country borders. But with the EU regulations nearly no controls at all. All easy these days.

This upcoming weekend the weather forecast is for good weather on Friday, where we have a national holiday in Germany. Good for sailing and I have heart that abt. 100 IRC/IMS and OD keel boats have entered the MAIOR races in Kiel. A good sign in these tough days.

More about sailing hopefully after the weekend. Have to have a look at a paint repair job on the Bull now...

2 Days of sailing the Moth

Had a short session last week after installing a new tramp and looking for problem areas to overhaul. All in all the Bladerider is in good shape. Sailed the boat on Saturday morning until I had a couple of capsizes, than stopped mothing. I struggled a bit with the standard sail as the top batten is not shifting, no matter how much tension I have on the downhaul. Therefore the boat exhilerated (and foiled) immediately on port tack and did not do well on starboard. Have to play more with batten tension maybe. Saturday afternoon i went mothing again and it was a good session. It lasted 3 hours after which I was totally worn out. No energy left. Not even for another sailing on Sunday. The whole body felt sore. Still I enjoyed it very much and hope to get into better shape slowly. As a first sign of will, I did not take sugar into my tea this morning.

There were already many keel boats out here and the nice sunny weather with wind from the east brought some chilly temperatures. In the afternoon the breeze was building up to a handy 5 Bft which in my opinion is caused by thermal effect. We heart from people who had sailed out on the Baltic sea that they had only seen max 3 Bft. This is a typical spring easterly which will last a couple days. It is only a bit early this year. Normally this high settles in the mid of May and in the afternoons the winds is building sometimes up to 7 Bft here on the Schlei Fjord. This is windsurfers delight. Way too strong for me to take the Moth out. Should maybe undust the slalom gear.

Updating the Blog...

Not much happening on the water since mid of February, after I packed it in for the winter season. Due to job commitments I did not go sailing in the Swedish Championship, which had been a well organized regatta as far as I had heart but with conditions on the ice only marginal. Anyway this is past time and we are slowly moving into the soft water season.

The Melges 24 sailors from North Germany had asked me if I would run an early season training on the water for them in Flensburg. I said yes and the date was fixed. Running the RIB, laying the marks and maybe help them to get up to speed had been the goal. There were 7 M24s and 3 SB3 boats participating. We set a short windward/leeward leg and I was playing with the startline to get them to find the right side, the windshifts etc. I thought that they are really able to help themselves with trimming and timing their manouvers. It had been a good, but cold and wet Saturday out on the water and I was happy to get home, soaked wet and cold and taking a hot bath first thing.

From Friday until today I was taking part in a rules seminar held by Dave Dellenbaugh (of Speed and Smarts fame) in Langenargen, Lake Bodensee in the south of Germany. Lake Constanz) It had been three extensive days with hours in the "class room" going through the new rules and it s implications on the race course and having on-the-water sessions on Saturday and today. Debriefing and video analyses in the late afternoon. We were divided early in the seminar into 2 groups sailing as a team on the Bavaria 35 Match from the German-Match-Race-Center. The boats were in outstanding good conditions bearing in mind that the only German Grade 1 Matchrace, as well as other professionell Matchraces being sailed on the same boats. A lot of well known skippers had left their name at the back of one of the hatches on the boat which we had got to use. Anyone interested in the rules seminar or Matchrace training should pay a visit to their site: www.match-center.de.

America´s Cup. Court Decision

SCUTTLEBUTT EXTRA - Thursday, April 2, 2009 (www.sailingscuttlebutt.com)

Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors,
providing a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and
dock talk . . . with a North American focus.
(Apr. 2, 2009) - The New York State Court of Appeals, in the case between
Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) and Societe Nautique De Geneve (SNG), regarding
the validity of Club Nautico Espanol De Vela (CNEV) as the Challenger of
Record, has found in favor of GGYC, reversing the Appellate Division and
reinstating Justice Cahn's orders. In its unanimous opinion, the Court held,

"Since CNEV has failed to show that at the time it submitted its Notice of
Challenge it was a '[c]lub fulfilling all the conditions required by' the Deed
of Gift, it does not qualify as the Challenger of Record for the 33rd
America's Cup competition and Supreme Court was correct in declaring GGYC to
be the valid Challenger of Record. It has been posited that the right to act
as trustee of the America's Cup should be decided on the water and not in a
courtroom. We wholeheartedly agree. It falls now to SNG and GGYC to work
together to maintain this noble sailing tradition as 'a perpetual Challenge
Cup for friendly competition between foreign countries.'"

Court decision:
http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/decisions/2009/apr09/25opn09.pdf

DN Racing Again Near Berlin at February 14/15th

Before I forget and spring break fever takes over, I have a short report about one of the best DN regattas of the short but extensive season. Wait a minute, I have to scramble for the date... Berlin, Lake Wolzig at February 15th and 16th. This is what the official report reads: Ice thickness: 20cm, hard surface, night temperature: -4°C, small snow drizzle 0,1cm, Wind 4 Bft. I had hit the road already Friday night to be fit on the saturday morning as the weather report was promissing. And so it happened. 28 racers arrived by midday and we decided to sail in 2 fleets. One for the more beginners or people with older equipment who did not feel comfortable with all the fast "carbon tuned" DN racers. This is a very good rule found by our friends from the Berlin DN fleet. 16 boats in the A fleet were called to the blocks. I had received block 17, the outer right starting position. A captivating race with position changes in the front. Going from 2nd on the weather mark to third after one round they spit me out at 5th place at the finish. There had been enough speed in the boat, just the shifts on the lake were not in my favour, or better, I did not read them right. Another fifth followed by a first and a third place. The first two spots were already occupied by G-624 and G-890. Close racing with both of them but at the end their nose was in front. Two more races for the day which saw me in 6th place and my friend "Vossi", G-709, found some more speed and stamina. He came 2nd and third now and made some valuable points. In the evening we found a great thermal pool with different saunas and outdoor pool with 28°C water.

Next day same conditions and our friend "Radlhuber", G-8 from Bavaria had his moments. 2, 1, 5 his scores for the three races whilst I scored 5, 5, 4. It was always close, the front 6 stayed together for most of the racing, only on the the last downwind the winner broke free or somebody got a real good shift on one of the windward legs. Holger, G-890 won with a 4th place as his discard. Well done. I finished in fourth positions overall. Not as good as my win the weekend before but than, the competition was a bit stronger. In one of the photos you can see the race committee with some of the racers. The left person, in the picture below, Dirk, showing the "Berliner" (pancakes with the name "Berliner" only outside of Berlin) had taken part in two Olympic games in the windsurfing division. Namely the DIV II boards 1972 and 1976. I was never able to beat him in that windsurfing class but on the ice I still have the nose in front. Dirk came 9th in the "A" fleet.The "B" fleet was won by Dietrich, G-532, an old salt whom I also met in my good old FD days in the early seventies. The "B" fleet showed good stunts on the downwind mark with 360°s and all. No accidents, only some scary moments. Driving home in the late afternoon there was still some winter in the air and I did not think about the end of season. The week after it snowed very heavy and racing had to be cancelled for the weekend 21/22nd of Feb. The Polish Championship held the weekend after was a bit far away for me. No co-driver available.

Last weekend the hardcore DN racers met in Goldberg again only to decide that the racing would have been too dangerous. The ice in general was safe but there were some holes spread over the lake. All bigger in size than our runners. Nobody wanted to destroy the equipment just for some fun races. Now it is maybe up to the Swedish Championship in the middle of March. Waiting for their ice report. I am already on the preliminary starter list. For the record. This report has been written at March 4th but I will date it back to the Monday after the racing. My blogging is supposed to be a diary of events for me.

Now, this is the real thing.

Photo: Courtesy US CoastGuard
Today the North American Championship will be started. Wishing all my DN friends, expecially the Team Germany: "smooth sailing, sail safe and fast!". I am in the mood for another weekend of DN racing. Tonight the fleet chiefs will get together on the phone and decide where we shall meet. See you on the Ice!

Wet, wet, wet

Another day of DN sailing happened on Sunday on a very wet surface. There had only been 12 sailors plus a few non racing DNér s showing up which could be a sign that people get tired after 5 weekends of sailing. Maybe their equipment is getting worn out, or that their wifes do not allow them to get free from the family every weekend from the beginning of January or that they are in the States to start in the DN Worlds at Torch Lake, Michigan. Anyone with a better excuses, please comment here or mail to me. The sailors from Berlin called for the Wolzig Cup to be sailed only on Sunday, when the weather forecast showed promissing 3-4 Bft. This allowed me to take part Friday evening at a big reception from the German Offshore Owners Assc. (no I did not take part in any offshore racing last year, but I think about it...stay tuned here) There had been a good film session, music session, awards for the 10 most successful German teams plus mentioning the race winners of the Baltic Sprint Cup, 1st. place went to Mr. Mike Castania with his Rogers 46, "DANEBURY" and second place to Mr. David Aisher, also on a Rogers 46, "YEOMAN XXXII". Both took part during this remarkable evening in the impressive Hamburg Rathaus. (House of lords, so to speak) and got some presents from the organising committee.

Anyway, back to the DN Sailing in Berlin. Left home with the van on Saturday evening to be fit and ready next morning. Wanted to unload the boat at 23.00h when I arrived, but the place was closed. High fences. Being the only car in the carpark, I felt a bit strange. "do they really show up tomorrow morning for racing?" I asked myself. I had faith in the Berlin race management and of course, Dieter S. , G-368, greeted me in the morning, being happy that some "foreigners" wanted to take part in the racing. Lot´s of action as one has to carry his equipment a good 100m to the ice. Ready to sail at around 11.00h. Wet and cold feet at around 11.20h after walking through water to collect my starting position number. "Where are my Goretex socks??". First race from block 2. Right side, first inside the middle mark. My testing had showed that the left side was favored. After a good running through the wet I had enough height to bear away and blast across the next boat to leeward. Than tacked, tacked back in the middle of the course, crossed with G-709 but had built a good lead at the weather mark. Extending the lead and crossing the finish first. Next race I had block Nr. 1. First boat on the left inside. Easy. Start, run, jump in the boat and blasting away. Maybe the smoothing of the runners helped in the slush ice under the water. The boat was exhilarating, the new mast did bend nicely and I reached nearly warp speed. A pity, all the top guys this season did not take part except of G-709, 896 and 136. The third race was more interesting. I only managed to be third at the weather mark, was not able to shorten the distance to the two leading boats, neither downwind, nor upwind and had to fight on the last downwind run to secure third place against an impressive G-542 who used older equipment than even mine. Something had to be done. The wind had increased a lot. New sharper runners and the sail a little lower. The left side was not favored any more. G-709 went early for the right and he crossed me just after I had tacked on to the layline on port tack. He went too high and I was able to leave him in my wind shadow. Right in front was the blue boat. Knut, G-896, who was lying very low in the boat just in front of me. He was fast and I could almost match his speed to the first weather mark. We rounded very close and he extended the lead on the run. I had a better mark rounding in the gusty and strong wind and gained already 30-50m on him. Now bending the mast, crawling into the boat and of we went for a real dogfight upwind. Both tacking on to the layline, he a little higher than me, investing his lead. I had a bit of luck, tacked on a hard spot, accelerated a little quicker and started to point high into him. Catched the wind from the front, giving him a little backwind and rounded the mark first. From here on it seemed easy. Finished with a good lead. Knut reported later to me that he had spinned a 360° on the last downwind leg. Mmmh, the sharp runners, which I had mounted, felt good. The race committee called it a day and the Wolzig Cup was finished. Everybody went for the shore where we got our feet dry and packed up the gear. Price giving, the typical "Berliner" pancake and hot drinks for all. Short speeches, hipp-hipp-hurray and off we drove. You cannot have a good day of DN racing when you don´t leave your cozy home. Hope some more racers will show up next weekend. The show must go on as long as we have some sailable ice in Germany this winter.

Blizzard in Steinhude

We had some excellent DN racing on the ice last weekend in Steinhude, near Hannover, though the lake had already opened up big enough in the middle to hold a regatta with optimist dinghies on liquid water. Nevertheless the race committee had laid a course with about 1,2km upwind and totally safe on the eastern side of the "Steinhuder Meer". Safe from going through the ice but not safe against accidents. (Actually it never is...) There were 35 DN´s on the startline, which is a lot on a fast and short course. The port tackers have to get around the windward mark and there is normally half the fleet approaching the mark on starboard. Average speed on the day had been abt. 50km/h to windward. And it was me who caused the biggest crash of the day and the only one. Really bad and totally my fault. Glad that no person had been injured. The other boat, G-390 was mostly destroyed. A. was absolutely right to be angry with me, to shout and stomp her feets. When she calmed down and I had a chance to apologize (to fall on my knees...) we got into action and took away from the ice every little peace of wood and steel which we could find. Just in time for the fleet to approach the weather mark for the second time. We collected all the bits and pieces left from her equipment, put it in my boat and headed for the shore. I was able to collect my nerves and headed back out with my boat which had only be scarfed on one runner. I tried some tacks and jibes and the boat did well. Nothing loose, steering worked fine. I was able to race again and to free my head from the bad accident. In hindsight it had happened because I lost control on the steering. I tacked into a hole at the starboard line of boats and thought to be safe. The tack had been unsuccessful, no grip on the steering, the boat just slipped sideways instead to tack. I can still imagine the moment when I knew that "NOW" someone will hít me from behind. Bad. My responsibility. The boat had been trimmed in such a way that there was not much weight on the front runner. Should have put more body weight into the front of the boat. Or trimmed differently. That´s what I did for the next races. The runnerplank one more back. The maststep one more to the front. A safer and more comfortable set-up. Maybe a little slower. Definitely in the next race, I was able to take part. 20th place. Tightening the shrouds and hoisting the sail one knot brought back some power into the boat. I managed a ninth and a fourth and and things started to look better.

Sunday we did sail out to the course with four sailors and tried to lay the startline. It was really windy and it snowed. Kind of blizzard conditions. The gap in the ice had opened. It looked great to see the open water with wind waves in the "not" far distance. Most DN´ers stayed ashore and when we measured the wind at around 11.00h it had increased to 12-14m/sec and the race committee called it a day. No more racing. Hitting the road for home. Need to mention for my diary that this had been the first weekend ever when I took my brother iceboating. He had never before sailed on the ice but he likes iceskating. He has not done it for many, many years as he had lived in the south Pacific. Va´vau to be specific. He cruised around on saturday with the DN and he much enjoyed it. He told me that he got an idea about it and he started to understand why I am so hooked at this particular sport.

Now off to a big reception tonight in the Hamburg Rathaus with the German Offshore Owners Assc. and than going racing the DN again on Sunday near Berlin. That´s the plan at least. Have to check the weather on Saturday morning, when waking up in Hamburg.

Cool Winter

A weekend of DN racing is behind me and another one in front of us. Thursday is mostly the day when we decide where to go, where to meet and where to race. Our mighty "Vossi", chairman for the North German fleet has now organized two weekends of racing in a row. Of course we are helping him and we try to have only volunteers but there is some equipment which has to be carried around. Equipment like two big orange marks, smaller off set marks, the starting line equipment and the scoring equipment. Maybe this is boring information for my two readers but there are the other two who have no idea about what it takes to organize racing in winter time. It is much less fuss than the soft water racing. E.G. We are laying the marks ourselves. Usually the fastest guy takes the weather mark and will lay it out. Of course we take the fastest sailor because he always lays the mark as far to weather as possible. He wants us to have some "speed races". Long distances where his speed will come into play. If we asks sailors from the back of the fleet, usually the weather mark is laid with much less distance. Often under the wood and not straight into the wind. So everyone has his own opinion. Usually we get under way after some re-shuffling the start line and the downwind mark. After the wind has stabilized in direction. And also waiting for the very keen racers who are running one test lap after the other. Always changing runners in between or even the sails. This is a bit difficult to understand for softwater sailors. They cannot walk around their boat. Changing a mainsail in a 470 dinghy is no easy task and what do you do with the spare one? We just drop things in the rigging area on the ice. As well as hot tea and some snack. So, to bring you up to speed. No coaches necessary to carry your gear out to the course in iceboat racing. You take it all yourself. And you are discussing and testing with your fellow friends between the races, directly on the ice. Looking at trims, set ups and everyone is very helpful. You just need to ask some good questions.

Last weekend we had some raining in the afternoon on Saturday and most of my friends played it lazy. Myself too. The photo is from some practice racing between the rain showers. So, no racing as we thought that visibility through the ski googles was poor. Dangerous sailing so to speak. On Sunday the sky cleared and the sun came out. We ran 3 races in light air and had to abandon as our chairman ran into a pool of water. (Rescued himself and no damage to his boat) Nobody knows why and it was definitely out of the usual course area (which was safe of course) but we had a winner for the "Silberne Drache vom Goldberger See". I was in contention for first place after 2 races but screwed up the start in the third race and could not make a comeback. Fourth place overall and Holger, G-890 won with Bernd, G-107 in second and our friend from Bavaria, Thomas, G-8 came third. Now, looking forward to racing this weekend near Hannover on the Lake Steinhude. I´ll give my brother a test sail on my spare boat. See if he likes it. He helped me with some repairs and refit this week so he already got an idea how the DN looks like.

Can it get any better?

The picture shown here had been taken with my mobile last saturday after the DN racing had been finished for the day and we had put our boats to sleep. Can it get any better outdoors? Runners prepped for the next day and a cool or hot drink in hand and chatting about the action of the day. The huge trailers and the tall masts belong to the 15qm class. Two seaters with the crew facing backwards...

Point of discussion had been my "stunt" during race 8. It happened on the second downwind leg that I suddenly lost steering. I tried to signal G-390, Anja, who past by very close because she thought that I would get out of the way due to her right of way. I could not do anything and doing some inspection under the boat, when running downwind at abt. 80km/h, is not possible. I seemed that the tie rod had been broken. And I was running straight downwind into the start line, the race committee and the spectators. Something had to be done. I tried to put the brake on with my spike shoes. The boat slowed down considerably but not enough for me to jump out and stop it. The wind pressure increased in the sail and there was no way of holding the boat or turning it into the wind. Shit. I detached the sheet blocks from the boat but this was a mistake. The sail immediately eased out until the boom hit the sidestays and the wind pressure in the sail increased. The boat still running straight downwind towards the crowd. A moment of desparation. I could not jump out and let the boat do some demolution, let alone some people get hurt. Seamanship help! What would a seaman do in such a situation? "Get the bloody sail down, man", I said to myself. Easier said than done. Undo a shackle first and than pull the thing down. Hard and fast. No care for battens or the sail being run over by the sharp runners. Just down and pulling together. Than G-890, Holger came running into my direction and helped me to stop the boat. Good guy! Thank you. We stopped it 20m or so in front of the starting line (with rope and numbers on, the business!) Now a lot of DN érs swarmed over me and my boat. Trying to find out what happened. Please, please, give me a pause. Let´s get the boat to my rigging place, my tools, my jacket first. Some where understanding my concerns. The "mechanics of the DN world" got into business. Got angry with me. Only 3 turns into the thread... It just came loose because of vibrations. "Fix it better next time!". Yes, you were all right. This should not have happened. Together we fixed the boat and back into the next race. My results: mid fleet. 10 races were very exhausting. Have to work harder on the boat prep. The body prep. Or to be happy with some mid fleet results and enjoy the family on the ice, the atmosphere and all. It is hard to be beaten by the fellow DN friends with whom I normally fight it out on the course. Tough when being in the top 3-5 boats at the weather mark but than downwind loosing miles. My score card looked like following: 3 , 6 , 3 , 5 , [10] , 9, 8 , [17/DNF] , 5, 8 . Finishing 7th out of 16 participants.

The racing is on again this coming weekend. Looking forward to another great weekend of DN Iceboat racing on the Goldberger Lake.

North German DN Championship

In spite of time and myself travelling, I put up an article from a local newspaper about last weekends championship. Might have some information about the actual racing later. I´d like to put the attention of my dear one or two readers from abroad to the second picture on the left. And something funny I just realize by having a second look. The headline in the article has a spelling mistake. I mean, it is not some blogger writing this, it is a journo. The first one who points out on the mistake will get a CTM wooly. As usual, klick on the pic and it blows up.

DN Iceboating in Steinhude

Second weekend of DN iceboating and what fun we had. As I haven´t written here about the first weekend this year, Jan, 2nd and 3rd, just a quick recap. After a lot of phone conversations, convincing people, surfing the Internet on New Years day we finally agreed about meeting in Steinhude (near Hannover Airport) A big lake with abt 32 square km. Room for everyone: Skater, 15qm class and the DN´s. We met on Friday for some practice races and to worm up on the hard water.
Great weather, the sun shining and with a nice breeze we had some interesting results on the hard, smooth ice. Come Saturday and we had 25 DN boats lined up for 5 races. The breeze was building during the day and the results not far from the usual pecking order. I came third which was absolute OK for me.

German DN Championship
Second weekend with sailable ice in Germany we have to sail our International German Championship. This year it was a bit "early" for me as my gear had not been optimized, I was a bit lazy with my runners. Or maybe did the wrong thing after picking up some new ideas the weekend before. I did work on the runners some evenings during the week before but putting the runners into use when it was windy on Sunday they did not work as supposed. Anyway we had 60 starters from Germany, Poland and Denmark. The Dutch friends were sailing their own Championship after many, many years without sailable ice at home. On Saturday the fleet had been divided into two groups and the second the group of 34 sailors, bar 16 fixed starters for the Gold fleet, had to fight it out. As the wind was fading the first "A" group race, held late in the afternoon, had to be abandoned. Good luck for me as in spite of a good starting position (nr. 5 on the starboard side) I got rolled after the start from the fleet and never found pace again. With a little knee injury it was really difficult to outrun the other starters. It was me who had been out runned big time by the fleet.

Sunday one could already feel the difference in the morning. Chilly, temperatures below -5° C and the breeze was starting at around ten o´clock. This had been the supposed starting time and I got up 2,5 hours earlier. Just to realize that 2 and a half hour are not enough to get fully organized and to sail with a fully loaded boat (5 sets of runners, tools and an extra sail) to a start line on the "other side of the world". At least that is how it felt, seeing almost everyone in the starting area and me slowly jibing my way downwind. Some action to make you nervous. Must change this. Get up very early. The first race of course had been called for the "A" fleet. I came away from the line OK and finished 16th. Next race better speed with different runners (more grip on the ice) I placed 6th. A pause to recover was given to us as now started the usual order: B fleet, A fleet, B fleet and so on till the last possible race of the day could be sailed. Third race, I got lost on the racetrack somewhere and finished deep down in the fleet. Everything went wrong. Result, 29th place. A sail change was necessary, even if only for psychological reason: ...and out comes my weapon. A low drag Shore sail from Henry Bosset, produced in the mid ninethies. (Yes, Henry, I hope to get a photo from the event) Often used in strong winds it propelled me into the top ten most times.

The fourth race will stay in my mind for a long time. I was leading the first lap, when rounding downwind, my mast did not bend to the right side. I had to fight to get it right and that is when Hans, D-92 passed me. We both got into a kind of Match race, fighting hard for positioning and I was able to grab back first place on the 2nd downwind.. Same procedure at the downwind mark with my mast and Hans passed me. This time he was building his lead. We finished 1st and 2nd...at least this was what we thought. Until our friends came and asked why we have let the Polish sailor P-154 and Thorsten, G-666 to pass us in the third round. Both Hans and myself could not believe this had happened and we investigated. Yes, the two sailors had lead us by 2 min and we were in front of the rest of the fleet by 40 seconds. The scoring sheets clearly showed them sailing their 3 rounds and Thorsten was the winner of this crazy race. A big "righty" when Hans and I had been fighting on the left side of the course had propelled our friends into the lead. Nothing we could have done. We did not even see them on the racecourse. Iceboats, when going into opposite directions of the course (into the corner, as it was really, really slow to tack due to the snow patches) are separated by miles...

Not all was lost for me to end up in the top ten but with a decent result of a 15th place in race 5 I lost it. This race could have gone both ways it was just wrong for me to be on the right side of the course when the wind died on that side and the left was screaming up to the weather mark whilst we (all the guys on the right) had to get out of the boat and to push, push and run. To run like hell. To jump into the boat during the mark rounding (Running not allowed here) hoping to built some speed whilst the ones speeding around the mark had build already so much apparent wind that they were going downwind, whilst we pushed a bit lower than upwind. Out of the boat again, run till you nearly collapse, jump back in, sheet in and build speed. My boat speed was OK, my running only decent, my course management in this race not good and I finished 15th. This gave me way too many points and I finished 12th in the "A" Fleet. Congrats to Thorsten, G-666 a worthy German Champion. Having been an assistant, to World Champion Ron Sherry, US-44 for long, he has learned his lessons well. I think his runners must have been the best prepared from the whole fleet and I promised myself to spend more time in the workshop to better my results. Not an unhappy guy with my placing, no, I learned again a lot. Enjoyed the racing and the atmosphere and are longing for more. May the winter stay for a couple of weeks within a circle of 500 km. Yes, before finishing this report, I should mention my buddy and former co-driver to the big events: Sailmaker Harry, G-145, who placed a sensational 20th place after being absent for three or four years due to a motorcycle accident which paralyzed him from the hip downwards. Always smiling, a great character, he gave us a good example about what you can do with will and a great attitude to life. Of course all the sailors did not deny him to get a push start from the line from his helpers and he was mostly in the the top ten at the weather mark. Harry, we are happy to have you back. What a great idea to strap you into the DN and get on with life!

The clock stopped ticking at 64...days of sailing in 2008

Happy New Year to my fellow readers!

The year starts nicely with 2 days of iceboating in Steinhude. A report will follow soon. This is just the announcement that I will try hard to beat the 64 days of sailing on various crafts in 2009. Please keep coming back. DN G-99

Scaling down

There has not been much to report from "on the water" for me. It is always a long time since the beginning of October, after packing up the soft water tools until January when I normally move from soft water mode to hard water mode on my DN iceboat. This year, the time seemed longer than ever, though I had the pleasure to meet some sailing friends and to see some new boats during the Newport boatshow in September. Maybe this "early boatshow visit" at the end of the season had been one of the reasons I was longing to get back on to the water.

In December my sailing buddy Jürgen called me, to ask if I would like to race one of his IOM yachts. Yes, sure. No reason for me to hesitate. The regatta took place on December 21st. Called the "Tannenbaum Regatta", first price being a fully decorated X-mas tree. But... you have to bring a new one, fully decked out, the next year. Oh, I do not want to be the winner. And in reality I would never be. Not enough experience. The competition is really strong. E.G. the good guys keep a line-up of boats like Jürgen, who gave me one out of his four boats which he keeps in prestine conditions and in full racing mode. We had sailed 2 blocks of 3 races each in chilly conditions. There were two different fleets who shared the course and sailed one after the other. 30 MiniCupper (looks like an old IOR 2 tonner) and 14 IOM boats. (Very flashy looks, very different designs within this international one meter rule). I ended up somewhere in the last half of the fleet, though I had really good moments, when arriving at the top mark in the first 4 but after that I lost it on the downwind. In one race really badly, when I thought that another black boat (I sailed GER-277) was mine and I only realized, after the boat did not react to my finger which pushed the stick harder and harder, that I looked at a different boat. At the wrong boat. Mine was drifting by the time way out of the course. A bit like JM in the Vendee... Oh, never mind, I am not fit enough to a Vendee but the discussion on SA if this guy can do it on one of the most advanced Open 60, ready for the race in the last minute, caught my eye and my readers mind. Now he is out of the race and the anarchists from the South of GB who seem to know a thing or two are right. He did not make it around. Yes OK, that was the radio control boat race for me this year. Have a good time.

Lot´s to do and waiting for the water to freeze over

Mmmh, long time no hear. Sorry. Lots of stories caried around in my head. Still the Laser fotos on a stick but no-time-to-blog. I think it is OK, as there is no sailing happening with me at present. Won´t bore you with economy stories, nor with stories about sharpening my DN runners and aligning the runners on the plank. It is a very, very time consuming process when you had been lazy over the last season. Found an interesting blog with "all the stories" about big boat sailing in German language. lobsterone.blogspot.com. A pity the guy has left no comment button. If Lobster one comes acoss to this, please give me a shout or a comment. Like to get in contact with you about the IRC stuff. You seem to know a thing or two about it.

"Absegeln" - Last sailing on liquid water this season?

Haven´t been connected to the Internet at home over the weekend. Could not follow the Volvo Ocean Race neither write the outstanding reports about the Laser sailing and the other interesting racing. Hope to get it done later.

Had a good day out on the Moth yesterday. Due to the upcoming boatshow in Hamburg, which runs over the next two weekends, it looks like I should pack it in. I had been "over" dressed yesterday with two layers under the Musto Drysuit. A bit warm after a few manouvers without falling into the brink. Than I realized that one of the Cambers had not been set correct (jumped away from the mast during rigging, I guess) but impossible to do it whilst swimming around. Sailed without bothering too much about it which should be good mental training if something like that happens during a three race day in Kiel or elsewhere. Catch up with you later, hopefully, during these busy times...

Busy sailing schedule over the Weekend

I have put three days of sailing behind me. A lot of fun meeting with friends from different classes and on Friday evening with a boat, that I had never sailed before. The Optimist Dinghy. Yes, I have folded 190cm into this little pram and it did not feel as bad as I thought. It all started with a promise or better a birthday present which I had given to K. last week. She got a voucher to take part in the local women Opti regatta and I promised to organise everything. From the fully rigged boat right on the pier to jump in, to babysitting our little one. I was able to delegate the boat logistics to some members of our little sailing club (HSVS) where K. is giving sailing lessons to the beginners and they came with a whole group of supporters and sailing the Opti around the corner to the SSC. And yes, I was very nervous watching the race. There are some talents in the Club. A last minute starter had been the actual German Ladies Matchrace Champion. K. rounded the first windward mark in the top position and had been rolled by one of the top helmsladies (OK, lady skipper sounds better to me). We were able to see that her rig was not set right for the light conditions. The boom looked much too high. She climbed back at the next weather leg, ducked the leading boat at the mark (see the picture, klick on it) and ran away from the group. She had reset the rig and with the fuller mainsail the boat just glided away. K. won the regatta and I was proud that she made some good decisions on the course and I have to fear that the helm on our boat will be hers next year.

Next it was the mens turn with the Optis. Older than 40 years or above 100kg is the rule. There was just one starter and therefore the ladies catched most of the men hanging around at the club and it was also my turn now. The baby had behaved well and it was OK for me to sail in the race. No excuse worked. I had never before sat in an Optimist Dinghy and I thought it would not work. But I was wrong. The lower legs need to be either outside the boat or you have to knee in the boat and lean forward across the bulkhead as much as possible. Both seemed to work. My start was good. Front row but halfway up the beat I was rolled by Norbert. A little higher and faster he was sailing. More boats passed me on the first downwind leg and the course was shortened much to my delight. My good friend Robert passed me 5 meters in front of the finish and I came 5th. Only 9 starters but it was OK for me.

Saturday we sailed the Blue Ribbon of the Schlei Fjord. A distance race. Up to the first bridge and than back home. The start happened in medium fog. We could just see the starting marker but I think I was way below it at the signal. It was a downwind start, something I never seem to manage well. My friend Jürgen with his Melges 24 just ran away from the fleet in the light air. He was so much in front 2 minutes after the start that he was not even blanketed. We had to jibe and jibe again but we never really freed ourselves from the main bulk. The Bull just did not wanted to sail faster than 5.2 kn. We never came into sailing an apparent wind. The boat did not glide through the water. Therefore we misjudged a few things, we did not change into the light weather sheets and we ran out of good mood. I realized that I should have hauled the boat and cleaned the underwater after a good long season in the water with only some Wednesday night sailing. I am not taking these things serious any more. Therefore I cannot expect good placings. We lost distance on all angles of sail. Upwind it felt strange when the speedo stopped at 5.2 and the pressure increased but not the speed. Nobody else to blame but me. At the end we finished in 12th position. Corrected result under Yardstick: 30th. After nearly 4 hours of sailing in light to medium wind we finished 27 minutes behind the first boat across the line, a Melges 24. The Bull team can do much better, I am sure.

Sunday we did sail the yearly Laser City Championship. I can remember the Nr. of my boat: 84048. Interesting to know that I get this Laser borrowed from Hartmuth, who with 84 years of age is not participating in the Laser regattas anymore. But he did sail the Blue Ribbon with his beautiful H-35. The Laser regatta is another story and will follow some day later.

2 Days of Sailing on Different Platforms

Did the beer can race on Wednesday night, the 17th with the Bull. Only looked up the result now and we came 2nd. First time that the new X-34 won with their YS of 93. We are sailing with YS 96 and we did hang on their transom for a long time only to have a "bad concentration phase" in the middle of the run. It was low and slow with the asymetric and we decided only very late to change into the lightweight sheets. After that we could hold our speed but "Luise" had sailed away. Also with a new crew it has been difficult to fly the tackline and at the same time to roll the boat and gennaker with a loose tack. It has to be hand sheeted in the light air as the gennie wants to collapse if not trimmed right. The job looks very easy but needs an experienced hand. We had fun and nice evening out and that counts the most.


The following weekend saw a Moth regatta at a Lake near Oldenburg which is called "Zwischenahner Meer". 10 skippers had entered at the deadline but only 5 appeared at race day. Most had excused that the weather was not up to "foiling conditions" but I think it is not fair for a Sailing Club, a race committee not to come. The social aspect of a race is still important as we are all not opting for an Olympic berth. We need the clubs to organize the racing for us and should not let them down only because Windfinder or Windguru are telling us that the breeze will be zero to two Bft. Anyway all five of us had very good fun and good racing with a PRO doing a good job in the tricky breeze. (Pic nr. 3 shows part of the fleet preparing for the start) We were able to sail 3 races on the Saturday, none on Sunday.
The nonfoilers were leading the way. Actually the last race had been a match race between Harald (from Lake Konstanz, pic on the upper right) and Hans from the Netherlands (pic top left). I was able to hold my third position, (Pic nr. 4) fighting off Sven (Pic at bottom right - early on the line, killing time) who is normally winning the German events. Uwe, who had a few good moments must have had a bit of bad luck with the wind. In race two he passed me on the last upwind, gaining from a hundred meters behind to leading by 20 meters only to loose it at the last 10m from the finish line. I had opted for a one tack aproach, coming from the left, whilst Uwe had opted for 2 more tacks into what he saw would be better breeze but had swung into the left and favoured me.

What´s up to match the hundred days of sailing? Not much and this goal will be up again next year for me. Next weekend we are sailing for the blue ribbon on Saturday and the Laser City Championship on Sunday. A couple of good sailors are coming into town. I am borrowing Hartmuts boat as I did over the last years. Hartmut is abt 77 by now and does some Laser sailing
but not in the race. His boat has a darkbrown colour and I am not sure if this was a series gelcoat. Have to take some elastic with me and some ropes. Hope that all the battens will be there.

No Moths at the Newport Boatshow but other Beauties...

Been to Newport over the weekend for the boatshow. Have been there on a special mission which is not completed by now, therefore not much to say about it. Met some guys whom I know through the SA forum. They all shared their opinions about the things, which interested me the most and it was a good thing to discuss with knowledgeable people from the sailing community.

One evening, when it has not been raining in Newport (ha ha) my bro and I strolled around Newport Shipyard. We had seen some really tall masts from the distance and needed to know to which boats they might belong to. We came across many superyachts which you normally only see in the “couch table mags” and two stunning yachts shall be featured here on my blog. The first one is the much discussed “SPEEDBOAT”, now in a new colour sheme, sponsored by Virgin Money. There was nobody on the boat. Seems that there is no weather window in sight to beat the Atlantic record. Her actual mission under the new charter. This boat is a “must see” for people who are interested in the development of things. It will be interesting to see if BIGGER is also faster. I mean BIGGER than a VO70 but with features alike. I was told by one of the sailmakers, whom I met during the show, that the square head of the SPEEDBOATS mainsail is abt 7m wide. I mean 7m horizontal at the top. What sort of batten will you need to put the top of the sail into good use? Will it open when you pull with all your hydraulic magic on the downhaul?


Many questions arose and it all lead us to another great boat from an area of life when no hydraulic or other machine assisted power could be used for trimming one of the big yachts. She looks all the business, she presents the glory of former years. The ELEONORA. What a beauty. The main boom sticking way out over her stern. All the woodwork gleaming in the late afternoon light. A pity that I only had my mobile with me but the sights of these two yachts, coming from opposite ends of the yachting history, being berthed nearly side by side, will stay with me for a long time. I like my readers to share the views.

Small high´s and big low´s at the Skiff Days

This boat immediately tells you if you have done enough practising as well as maintenance work. It doesn´t matter if you have an idea of reading the wind, or to know something about tactics, if you haven´t done your homework, it will show you already minutes after the start. OK, I should not write as pessimistic as this sounds. Not all had been bad, but I am still disappointed about my own result in the "long distance race". I did not even finish. Being second last boat and dead slow on the run I decided that enough was enough and turned the bow around to sail home. It was not possible anymore to see the front runners in the Moth class. I could name my boat the "lame duck" as it has no name at present. But this name is more appropriate for myself, as I have steered it around the course. And I am responsible for the set up. Less height than my fellow competitors, therefore a bit slower. Less deep running on foils, therefore lots more miles. Anyone with ideas to get me out of this, please comment. I have to hit the road now and might write a more positive report later about the "Kohlhoff Skiff Days", held in Kiel on the inner Fjord last weekend. Great organisation. Good fun for everyone. Watchful eyes can see me doing a port start with my GER 3170. Not bad, but than came the header... and a lull on the left.