Sailing the Dinghy

This blog shall not be dead, no. Instead of writing, I am househunting. Whoever has done this, know´s what I am talking about. I am on the hunt since 6-8 month and a couple projects have slipped away. Some others were "rip off´s". Now my projects, left in the bag, are getting closer to the water. The Schleifjord which I had shown in a previous thread.

Nevertheless the weekends are devoted to sailing and after doing the Sportsboat thing in Flensburg it was time to change back into the singlehand dinghy for some basics. We had three one-design Seggerling´s on the starting line and a couple of yardstick boats, from IC (International Canoe) to Skiffs. A very good regatta on a nice lake between Rostock and Berlin, roughly speaking. It is one of our favourite lakes for DN iceboating and many championships have been sailed there. Maybe one of the reasons not writing immediately after the weekend had been my "loss to the girl". She beated me and my other sailing mate on the water with better height and better speed. She was really good in moderate to strong wind but unbeatable on the Sunday with medium winds. Maybe we practised too much with her. Besides some rough moments mentally, during the race, of course we cheered her and felt that she deserved it. She shows amazing tacks and an amazing happiness once she is out there on her own boat. I have a photo which proves it all but have to get permission first to put it on here.

On the other side of planning and not sailing, I must say, that I am hooked on the Swift SOLO. I got somehow into their mailer and they keep me informed about things going on. I am trying to convince 3-4 guys here in the office or from the sailing club, that we should purchase kits and start building them during wood/epoxy seminars. This boat not only attracts me from the beauty of the wood work but also the lightness and the way the guys are handling it in the videos. Them who knows have seen it. For the other ones I will put a link in here later. I have to hit the road but did not want to leave you in the dark.

Swift SOLO homepage

Eehm, this is about sailing but just a short one about a film, which I saw the other day. I got the "World´s fastest Indian" from a friend who visited me, coming home to Europe from New Zealand. Really worth looking it. It gave me tears, shivers and happiness. All you want to get from a movie. A great happy end and a lection that "you can do it".

German Open Sportsboat

Die Fachpresse schreibt heute:

>>Bei den German Open der Sportboote verpasste Christof Becker mit seiner "Si!" (Esse 850) den Titel, den sich Jörn Petry mit seiner Melges 24 "Haiopei" sicherte, um einen Punkt. Die Melges hat sich europaweit als Einheitsklasse etabliert, nur in Deutschland tut sich die teuere Rüsselboot-Klasse schwer, so dass die Melges vor Flensburg bei den Sportbooten mitsegelte. "Es ist doch schön, dass so verschiedene Boote gegeneinander antreten. Es sind alle Geschwindigkeitsfreaks, und das verbindet. Es ist schönes Segeln", gewinnt Manfred Schreiber der Mischung Positives ab. Der Schleswiger belegte mit seiner "Bull-y-hoo (Bull 7000) Rang drei, auch wenn er am Abschlusstag "den Wind nicht verstand", so Schreiber. Becker hatte seine Esse 850 auf einem kleinen Foto in einer Fachzeitschrift gesehen und sich sofort verliebt. Dass er das Boot zusammen mit seiner Frau Claudia beherrscht, zeigte er vor Flensburg.<<

Naja, typisch Presse! Das mit den "Geschwindikeitsfreaks" ist nicht aus meinem Munde. Wäre ja auch ein bißchen lächerlich, sich als "Speedfreak" zu outen, bei 6kn Amwind Geschwindigkeit und vielleicht 14kn auf dem tiefen Raumschotkurs. Spass macht die Beherrschung des (Sport) Bootes auch bei viel Wind und der Wettbewerb mit den anderen Bootstypen. Zu sehen, welche Ideen sich durchsetzen, was macht schnell und was ist Marketing. Die Esse850 ist mit Sicherheit ein Boot, mit dem man in der Sportbootklasse gewinnen kann. Es ist auf Grund seiner Länge schnell aus dem Startfeld heraus und segelt zumeist mit freiem Wind. Die Melges ist hier im Norden tatsächlich nicht weit verbreitet, Jörn Petry hat sein Boot auch ohne direkte Konkurrenz schnell gemacht und den Sieg vedient. Mit der Bull (siehe Foto) segel ich auch nur gegen mich selbst und muss in den Einstellungen und mit Hilfe der Segel etwas an Höhe und Speed an der Kreuz zulegen. Die Vormwindgeschwindigkeit wird durch die richtigen Winkel bestimmt und auch da gibt es Nachholbedarf.

Interessant wäre noch gewesen, wie die Brenta 24 der "Berliner Segler" abschneidet. Leider ist sie dem Starkwind am Freitag zum Opfer gefallen. Mastbruch vor Regattastart. Die T750 hatte sich den Kiel kaputt gefahren und die Banner 23 Sport verlor das Ruder. Die Schleswiger Jungs waren aber fix und haben über Nacht ein gebrauchtes Ruderblatt modifiziert und eingesetzt. Die Ergebnisse und einige nette Bilder können unter www.fsc.de eingesehen werden.

We had it all...

Last weekend we have sailed a fantastic regatta in the inner Bay of Kiel, just opposite the big shipyard HDW. The regatta, so called "Inshore Race Meeting" had been well organized by the "Academic Sailing Club" of Kiel and all the students involved did an amazing job. Not only the race-management on two different courses had been excellent but also the catering was outstanding. Exactly as promised to me by my friends, who had attended the regatta last year in it´s first edition. I think, that nobody would have believed that already this year we would have three 18 footer and flying Moths at the starting line. (All not from the north of Germany) Very impressive and already worth the trip to Kiel. I started in the YS group 2 as we were only 3 Seggerlings. With us two J24 but boats from the organizing club. Several dinghies of mixed colour and our friends with the amazingly fast SZ-Skiff. The J24 are nearly unbeatable with their YS number but also, they did a good job sailing the shifting winds in the harbour. I managed 3rd place with Kerstin following in 4th position and the SZ-Skiff in fifth. Klaus, another Seggerling, finished 6th. On the water the three of us had very close racing with positions changing, match racing tactics and lot´s of fun. Though it had not been funny in the first moment to be beaten on the line by a mere 30cm in the first race and coming 3rd in the second race. After swallowing this and getting my smile back it got better with two wins in the afternoon. Partying was great and somehow the students have got the crazy idea that your intake of drinks on the Saturday night would weight your score for Sunday racing. Gladly Sunday racing (independent long distance race from Saturday) had been called due to high winds and the pricegiving was based on the evenings result alone. Here a young women won with an intake of 217g of "who knows" and beat all the boys. Well done is not really what I would like to say.

The pictures shall tell you a bit about the racing and wet your appetite for the 3rd edition of the "Inshore Race Meeting" in Kiel in 2007. From top to bottom.
Pic 1: Flying Moth,
Pic 2: Formula 18 against IACC Yacht
Pic 3: 18 Footer against IACC Yacht before start of separate race.
Pic 4: 14 Footer flying
Pic 5: Sailing Journal´s editor, Tom Körber in the LV style weather mark. Champagne bottel holders missing
Pic 6: Moth against Cruiseship background