Kieler Woche 2006 (dt. & engl.)

Nachdem ich die letzten zwei Jahre nicht mehr aktiv an der Kieler Woche teilgenommen hatte, ergab sich für mich diese Woche eine gute Gelegenheit mal wieder zu starten. BMW hatte zum BMW Sailing Cup eingeladen. Eine Einladungsveranstaltung, die über regionale BMW Händler lief und die in der Kieler Innenförde auf Skippy 650 ausgetragen wird. Genau: ausgetragen wird, denn die Veranstaltung ist noch nicht abgeschlossen. Morgen kommen die Finalläufe. Mich hatte ein Freund und ehemaliger Mitsegler angemeldet, mit ihm und einer weiteren Crew im Sailing Cup zu starten. Ich sollte steuern, Markus und Sigrid an den Schoten. Sigrid mit viel Gennakererfahrung und viel Gefühl für dieses Segel. Leider kam es anders. Die 36 eingeladenen Segler wurden willkürlich und ohne für mich erkennbares Muster einander zugelost. Ich wurde Skipper Willi und Crew Walter als Crew zugelost. Willi segelte früher Finn Dinghy und hat jetzt mit ner X-99 ein sportliches Dickschiff, Walter hat mal mitgesegelt. Regatta sei eigentlich nicht so sein Ding. Gestern bekamen wir bei Starkwind (für die kleine Skippy sind 6 Bft schon Sturm) erstmal ne Packung. Wir führten an der Luvtonne und brachen auf der zweiten Kreuz ein und wurden dann im Ziel dritte. Von jeweils drei gestarteten Booten. Weitere Läufe gab es nicht. Heute kamen wir in den Hoffnungslauf und konnten uns mit zwei ersten Plätzen makellos direkt für das Halbfinale qualifizieren. Leider segelte der Kieler Lokalmatador Oliver mit einem ersten und einem vierten direkt in unsere Gruppe und das bedeutet morgen einen harten Kampf um einen Finalplatz.

PS: Wer wissen möchte, was sonst noch so los war auf der Kieler Woche, sollte den Link unten rechts nutzen: Segeln-erfrischend anders oder http://blog.ln-online.de/index.php/segeln.

Cruising last weekend
My foreign friends here are missing last weekends report. Not much to report as the cruising with „Samantha“ went smooth. We sailed to Denmark, a picturesque little place called Høruphav. Sunday on the way home in wind which ranged from 2-4 Bft, it happened that we passed a bigger boat, abt. 2 miles out from the harbour and that this manoeuvre seemed to disturb the skipper of the other boat very much. He trimmed in and started to race us. About 20 miles against the wind, into the mouth of the Schlei Fjord. There were no presents given on the way and we did tack on every 5-8 degree wind shift, as did the other skipper. When the breeze picked up he got a slight edge on us, when the breeze was around 2Bft it seemed that we could cope well with height and speed with his bigger boat which carried a tall and thin 3 spreader rig. It was good that he only carried his Nos. 3 (about 110%) which is about what we are carrying. „Samantha“ has wide, swept back spreaders, where a No 3 Jib is he maximum fitting into this rig. More or less like a Farr 40. But with running back stays. After all this sailing, which we enjoyed very much, both boats entered Schleimünde on an even level. Greetings and well wished were exchanged, as the couple on the other boat seemed to have enjoyed it as much as we did. A great race on a cruising Sunday.

Later on after having had a shower the lady from the other recognized K´s red hair and chatted us up. I went to see the boat and the skipper and he had been an old customer of mine, now retired from boatbuilding. His cruising boat definitely a „sheep in sheeps clothes“. Cold moulded in Wood Epoxy with a towering rig from one of the last „RUBIN´s“. Germany’s most known tally of racing yachts in the old IOR days. Lot’s to talk and a late night made us stay on the boat and drive to work early on Monday morning.

Racing in the „Kieler Woche“
This week the famous „Kiel Week“ is under way. I have the pleasure to race in it in the BMW Sailing Cup, an invitational race. We have managed to qualify for the half final tomorrow and I will report later on how it went. So far I can say, that yesterday we did not sail smart and came last. The second chance races today brought us back into the race as we were the only ones to score two firsts. If we keep our pace a place in the final is not out of reach.

Follow up:
The third day of the BMW Sailing Cup did not went according to the plan...at least for us. The wind did not cooperate in the morning, very light, very fluky and turning around the clock. This was good in one way as the saturday of the Kieler Woche is always the day of the big Squarerigger parade. And what a parade it had been this time. I think that nearly every squarerigger from this site of the pond was participating. "Gorch Fock" leading the parade with "Sedov", "Khersone" and many, many other ship following. Spectator boats by the hundreds and thousands of people lined up ashore to watch and wave the parade slowly sailing (motoring actually) out of the Kieler Förde. All these boats and ships would definitely stolen our wind if there would have been any. At 13.00h the wind slowly kicked in. Not stable in direction but sailable. We had to sit out two "races of hope", for the not qualified and the first half final. Our toughest competitor (as to my personell thinking) sailed a first and a fourth which brought him into our halffinal group of 3 boats. To make it short, we messed it up. Leading at the weather mark, we did not sail the boat well on the run, got passed by Oliver though he had sailed out 2 penalties. Helmsman and crew never found together as we should. Difficult for me not to steer this nervous boat and seeing our skipper moving so much around with the tiller. Handbreak on most of the time. Me being nervous as I did see some chances, also not being able to give my very best as crew. If you are sailing with a gennaker or spinnaker in very light air it is necessary to have the best communication and cooperation between trimmer and helmsman.