Training, Racing and a Sauna at the Beach

What a great week we had here in the North of Germany. Sailors flocked in at 1st of May and it started with the welcoming of all participants for the training "week". The 1st of May is known as a "hoist your red flag" holiday in Germany, but we did not go for protesting (against whatever) instead we wanted to put in some serious sailing after the long Mothless winter time. For 80 % of the sailors it had been the first outing this year. With Markus, we had a very knowledgeable trainer who does not only sail fast on his Moth, but who understands so well all the physics and hydrodynamics around our little boats. He is able to give lectures about things which are important but which I had not even thought about. Time on the water had been shared with time on land discussing speed and handling issues. Everyone had made progress in his own field. During the only windless day, videos had been taken about the foils going through the water, which gave some interesting discussions later in the evening. The small hometown club, the HSVS which has it´s origin in sailing old fisherman´s prams welcomed all Moth sailors and the President, Walter Rolfs, had held an opening speech in the native North German language. The Fisherman´s society, thanks to foreman Harald Ross, had allowed the Mothies not only to rig their boats on the ground but also to park their campers and trailers on their meadow which is normally being used to repair and refit their nets and fishing equipments. This made life easy for the Mothies, as it meant boats and cars and the club as well as the launching beach, to slip the boats, had all been within a 40 m circle. Evening activities were based on a herring BBQ, cooking noodles for all and visiting the local restaurant within walking distance. All in all it is a very convenient environment with a low carbon footprint. Friday, 4th of May, the wind did not cooperate, it was light but Markus had a great "game plan" in mind. Short course racing with 3 jibes instead of tacking upwind and 3 tacks instead of jibing downwind. Great fun and you should try it out with your Moth in the light air.

CTM Carbon Motte: Saturday we had sailed four races in: "it is not normally like this" wind from the north-west, which meant a lot of gusts and shifting around 30°. The wind strength in the typical Markus: "it is only 3 Bft range", but some of us felt a little more pressure. A couple capsizes and the cold water let me and others go straight for the "Sauna at the beach" after the racing. The juniors (Lüttsegler) were already welcoming us with coffee and cakes and a water hose to give us a shower after coming out from the sauna. Great fun for everyone and thanks to Dirk Röhlig, Saunapointwho had sponsored the sauna event. Sunday saw light winds, shifting around half of the clock. Junior race officer, Johan made the right choice for one 2 lap race which had been raced against the easterly wind which held about 3/4 of an hour. Later in the day, the wind shifted to the west, but only a zephir breeze as already in the first race of the day. Everyone was happy to hit for the beach and to pack the boats after a 5 day Moth session in Schleswig. Coffe, cakes and a prize giving rounded up this event. The Carbon-Motte again being taken home and cared by Markus. As you can see from the results list at: Results, Markus won the regatta with 5 bullets, followed by Sven, being a little bit rusty after the long winter and our newcomer on the racing course (not new in the Moth), Andreas, who sailed some excellent races, finishing third. Hannes had boat problems, which we were able to fix over night and he finished fourth. Usually I would only mention the podium places but Hannes deserves a special mentioning, because he gave a talk in the HSVS about his way to become a sailor and his path to win the bronze medal in the 49er class, during the last Olympic games in China. The juniors and their parents and interested Mothies were deeply impressed. Look also at: HSVS Event Site Thanks again, Hannes, for this spontaneous event which will stick in the minds and hearts of the junior sailors from the HSVS. Next stop for me is the: Moth Fest at the Mar Menor, where I will haul my boat out of the monster garage, which had been mentioned in the blog entry below. Edit: Sorry, not possible to put in paragraphs in this "new" Blogger layout program, though they are showing in my text.