Last weekend of DN sailing, March 13th, 2010

...at least for me or at least here in Germany. Our Swedish friends had called for their yearly Championship which normally is a top choice on the event calendar but this year we still had good sailable conditions in the North of Germany. Some Polish iceboaters started already to enquire about the location in Germany on Wednesday but than we were not able to make a final decision. They decided there and than to travel to the Swedish Championship to be held in Jönköping at the big Lake Vättern and racing to be started on the Friday. We were only able to make a decision on the Friday morning and I hit the button for the message "regatta is on" on the Internet at 12.09h. Thus we had a couple less participants but nonetheless some top sailors including the European Champion 2010, Bernd, G-107 came to race in Plön. The two photos accompanying this report are taken from the webcam at the Sailing Club in Plön from the Saturday. Nearly all sailors are far out on the race course and of course not to be seen.

We had 17 competitors on the starting line for the vent to be called, the "Internationale Goldene Osterhasen Meisterschaft". With Marek, P-107 from Poland and Dideric, H-467 from Holland participating, who gave some international flair to the event. The start had been called for 12.00h and a little after we had set the course after a necessary re-arrangement due to some competitors having found holes in the ice close to the layline. The holes weren´t measured, only eye witnessed, which normally is not enough but we had enough space on the big lake to move a little to the south. Around noon the surface got soft but still ok for our 5 or 6mm insert runners. The sort of metal being the critical choice. I took my 100° Stelith runners and my good ol´faithful Shore LD sail but was late for a trial run. The bad flu from the days before still hindered me in my activities and being the under-assistant-ice-boat-promo-man, I mean the appointed assistant from our ill-being North German secretary, Vossi, G-709, the speech and organisational duties (somehow I had to carry the leeward rounding mark with me and everyone was waiting for it to be positioned) kept me from being on the course with spare time to burn.

We did 5 races in the rather difficult conditions with strong gusty wind and "heavy" ice, as we call a soft surface, where small crumbs of ice was flying or hammering into your face like hail. This happens mostly when you have the wrong front runner mounted (short) or one of your friendly competitors is running you down on the windward side, as Holger, G-890 did with me in the last race of the day. Anyway, I had some great races and only one bad result, when I finished 11th after having had a very bad start in race nos. 2. Overall I finished this event in third position behind our champion, Bernd, G-107 and the fast Polish, Marek, P-107 (see the numbers, must be fast). Some really great competitors and sailing friends, whom we call the "A" sailors had to sort themselves out behind me in the overall standing.

The last thing to do now is to write up a summary about this great season were I had some really good results on the national circus (podium places only) but mediocre during the Worlds and European Championships. This summary might come later or maybe only in my little "to-do" booklet. The thoughts are set on the Moth now and I am planning some training and modifications to my faithful Bladerider. Stay tuned if you like to read about the foiling adventures from an old salt for whom it takes ages to do a proper foiling jibe.

Some intense Iceboating

The DN Worlds and EURO Championship are behind me and it had been a few days of great sailing. There are already a lot of reports up on various iceboating websites. Here is just a quick and dirty summary for me to remember and maybe to be able to tell my grandchildren.

Left with 3 sailors in the Volkswagen Van (Bully) for Hungary. Krogo and Henning. Arrived in good shape, travelling through four different countries were we had to pay road tax (to purchase a windscreen sticker). After the flag ceremony on Lake Balaton, it started to snow and did not finish the next day. The whole circus packed up and drove into Austria to the famous Neusiedler See. (Lake Neusiedel) A small village, Mörbisch had been woken up and the 200+ sailors and PRC occupied two hotels which first had to be heated up from zero. Some sailors slept in their warmest clothes available. 2 days of sailing in three groups with 7 races for Gold, Silver and Bronze fleet. I had to qualify from Silver to Goldfleet, managed an eigth in the qualifier (the first 12 sailors are qualified) and finished 37th in the final A-fleet races. Ice conditions were very good and fast and some people said that the first 20 sailors each had a chance to win the title. I would cut this down to 12 or 15. The speed of the top sailors was in a different league to me and the sailors hanging around midfleet. Though I think that I would not have managed the top twenty, I think that my good old SHORE LD sail from the early 90´s did not help my speed in the strong wind. If it would not have full length battens it could be folded neatly. The HT "finish" has left the 6.5oz H&B cloth. I have to say good bye to it. Better sooner than later.

Same applies to my plate runners which are from Siberia and very light. They say that the material is a mixture from Titanium and Magnesium. Not very fast in the snow conditions which we faced during the last day, sailing the EC. The Qualifier races had been split into 4 groups due to the danger of way too many boats speeding around the course and bunching up at the marks. Due to my international ranking I had to start from the "C" fleet, qualified into the "B" and again qualified into the Goldfleet. First day of the EC my speed was very good. No problems getting to the front of the fleet even if my starts were medium. All the youngsters from Poland, Estonia or Lithuania just running away from me after the flag goes down. We faced light wind and very little snow on the ice during this first EC day. I used my faithful ´96 UK Power sail and managed an 11th place in the first Goldfleet EC race. Right there with the top boats. Next day a lot of snow and wind up to 10m/sec, increasing later through the day, left me with my only plate runners which I had taken with me. I managed some places in the 30´s and finished 24th over all. Thus I must play the elevator game again next year. Only about the top 21st from the international ranking are usually pre-qualified for the Goldfleet. I have to go through the stress of qualifying again. And it becomes more and more difficult due to many new and young sailors in the class who start understanding the game. They have well prepared boats and equipment and are only using the latest sails. If I would start a more competitive campaign next year, I could either go for a podium place in the Silver Fleet (won it in Poland a decade or two ago) or for the price given to the best sailor over 60. A whole summer to think about it.

Last weekend we had a 5 series race on Saturday in Plön, some 90km away from here. Strong wind. Of the 20 sailors, who showed up, we were only 7 making it to the start. One sailor had a bad accident. Broken arm and ego. He capsized on the downwind at abt. 90km/h and slided across the very rough surface for a while. He was back from hospital in the evening more or less in good spirit. I finished this series in 3rd place only because I did finish all my races without spinning or crashing into a mark as the much faster Krogo did in front of me. I was sailing with less speed and more respect. One of the toughest series ever sailed in the last years. Not the best conditions for our newcomers to warm up to this fantastic sport.

We still have a lot of snow in the North of Germany. Difficult to find a good spot for DN racing on the weekend. I do not fancy long road trips at present. There is a chance that I will go straight from DN sailing into mothing this year. In four weeks time I will be foiling at the www.pro-vela.com. All bookings confirmed today. Come ice or snow, the Mar Menor and Alan´s Bladeriders are waiting.

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.

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.

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!

All my DN friends are sitting in the starting blocks

You might wonder why this sailing blog is so empty. Yes, there is nothing to report. My dear Bavarian DN friends are sailing nearly every weekend on small lakes but they are not having any regattas as the lakes are too small for fleets of abt 30 participants upwards. Whilst in the south of Germany they having freezing temperatures all the time, we in the north have the opposite. Temperatures around 5°C. Still the water being too cold for me to go Mothing. To help you to understand our iceboating and the difficulty to find a location for abt. 200 (!) participants from all the world (The US boys are flying in to Frankfurt today) others are sitting with their equipment stacked up on cars or in trailers. I had started to pack up the Van last night. Unfortunately my partner has some sad family responsibilities and I am looking for a co-driver. Might have to talk again with K. who is so occupied with some interesting projects. Anyway, please read the following if you are interested. Our Pres has currently made a round trip from Vienna, via Sweden to Finland and now back to Lake Lipno, Czech Republic, close to home. I just got a phone call from my spies that the lake down there has got 20cm of black ice (kernel) with a light snow slush cover. M best guess is that we are seeing al our iceboat friends from abt. 17 nations for the World Championship 2008 at Lake Lipno. Stay tuned.

edited: Thanks Niklas, of course 200 participants. A logistical nightmare.

Message from Niklas, the President, written last night.

Dear friends,
now I'm sitting on a ferry again.
Some people ask if I became a "Fähroholic"

Today I have been in Finland and had a look on Lappalan Järvi. Ice conditions there are not that what I would love to have for WC 2008 or EC 2008.

Before starting to that lake I had several phone calls to Stan Macur, Chris Williams, and other reliable informing persons and we realised that 12cm on lake Siemianowka won't be thick enough. Especially if you see weatherforecast with cold and snow together. Snow will bring some isolation and will avoid the growing of the ice.

Anyhow, I have been following (in secret) the last days Lipno. Before I started from Vienna I got information that ice there is too bad and unsafe. But after having seen that there has been every night about -6°C to -9°C I asked Sebastian Obermaier and Friedl Liese to go there and to check the ice. (Thanks for doing that so fast !)

After having got some informations I decided to leave Helsinki and to go with Superfast to Rostock. I plan to be on Lipno on Thursday morning and I hope that I can make a final decision on Thursday noon - early afternoon.

The decision will be (from the point of view now !) Sandviken (Sweden) or Lipno (Czech Republic).

THIS IS NOT A FINAL DECISION !!!!!!!!!!!

THINK ICE