As promised a summary of the past weekend…
On Friday we (Manne, Renate and myself) changed the boat from the delivery set-up to the racing set-up. All went good and smooth and so we found ourselves having dinner with the boat almost ready to go at a reasonable time.
Saturday started light, very light. The crew got together and was ready to go. The boat is sticky in the light and so we went for the line early, unfortunately we got luffed and were too early. After a dip it was up to the crew of getting some places back.
The winds got lighter and the second start was very slow for us. No big mistakes, just not enough speed and a terrible feeling on the boat.
The third race start went well and so did the sailing, the upcoming sea breeze however forced the race committee to abandon the race and re-start. That went well again and in 10-12 knots we finally felt like we were actually racing.
Result of the first race-day: 9th, 13th and 6th (in the order of races).
Afterwards in the sun it was time for (free) drinks and a buffet and it was a sailors’ party (which, of course, ended not too late).
Sunday was possibly even lighter at the start, some changes with the set-up had us late on the water and at the start. the concentration seemed to be lacking within the crew and things just did not go as planned (and hoped!). Still difficulties with getting the boat up to speed in the light stuff. The second start was postponed because of the dying breeze, but just in time did the sea breeze arrive. Whilst not as strong as the day before the breeze was just enough to get us going and we sailed really reasonable around the course. Focus within and hard work had our second good race of the weekend.
All in all we finished 9th (11th without discard) overall in the first gathering of Dutch finest, not staggering but one must remember we are busy developing both the boat and the team at the moment. There have been taken a lot of photos, but none of the available ones (at this moment) feature the boat/myself in a nice way.
Next event will be the offshores of the North Sea Regatta in May. Until then it is back in the books and getting the Yngling ready for the occasional sail on the Kaag on nice days.
Ciao
Ps. For photos/reports check out http://www.clubracer.be or http://www.vanudenreco.nl
