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UK Grand Prix Series - Round 1

Perfect last minute race training prior to the Garda Worlds.

5 teams were met with a good forecast for a last minute event hosted by Stone Sailing Club.  The conditions provided teams with perfect conditions for boat preparation and training before all teams headed off for the Mark Foy Trophy in Torbole, Lake Garda (Club Area of Circolo Vela Torbole - northend of Lake Garda) starting on Friday, 29th May 2015.

2 new boats from Australia provided much interest in how boat speed would match up to the regular boats.  Steve McLean’s LED team recently purchased the very well finished ‘Appliances Online’ hull but would the spectacular paintwork match the looks? Graham Bridle and his Sail 4 Cancer team also recently purchased the ‘Fisher and Paykel’ boat to improve on his starter boat that also attended this weekend with it’s new team.

Saturday’s conditions made for tricky decisions on rig calls, with a fleet split on different rigs. The new boats showed their pace with the original 'Sail 4 Cancer teams' brand new small rig keeping up with an overpowered Pica in most races, only to find some boat handling let Pica run away with 3 bullets. The new team showed good promise managing the bigger rig in challenging conditions.

Sunday showed a much lighter forecast and all boats launched on the one rig in glamorous sunshine. Three races were held in a mixture of breeze strengths causing a lot of position changes. Pica dominated by getting their nose in front and being able to sail their own race. The Rutland Chandlery Team managed to post some good results, fending off LED and the huge single spreader rig of Sail 4 Cancer. The race committee did a good job of getting three fair races in on a constantly shifting breeze.

The boats were packed up after the weekend to make the long trip to Garda to face strong competition from teams travelling from all over the world.

Team Pica - 1st	Team LED - 2nd
Team Sail 4 Cancer - 3rd

by: Tom Hill / Stewart Mears

Euro Grand Prix Finals 2015 Campione

Final showdown for the Euro Grand Prix Series 2015 at Campione Lake Garda.
Perfect conditions, great ora and summer temperatures as usual...
Euro Link had a perfect series of 6 bullets in a row, winning the Campione event and the 2015 Euro Grand Prix Series.

Letztes Rennen der Deutschlandtour und Euro Grand Prix in Campione

Vom 25.9.-27.9. trafen sich in Campione die europäischen 18 Footer zum Finale des Euro Grand Prix 2015.

Wie vom Lago gewohnt hatten wir wieder perfekte Bedingungen. Beachbar, Liegewiese, Sonne satt und Abendessen auf dem Felsen über Campione. Nicht alle schafften es beim Autorennen nach Tremosine von Antonella nicht abgehängt zu werden.
Tag eins und zwei begannen mit moderater Ora (10-14kt) , Sonnenschein und Wärme.
Die Dänen (Flemming Klausen ) reisten mit neuem  Rigg an und brachten dieses ab dem zweiten Tag zum Einsatz, wurden auch von Start zu Start schneller konten aber nicht an die gewohnte Form anknüpfen.
Heinrich versuchte sich mit dem kleinen Rigg was aber mangels Wind nicht wirklich schnell war. Konstant schnell waren die Ungarn mit Miklos an der Pinne. EuroLink -als einziges Boot mit Stammbesatzung -konnte alle sechs Rennen gewinnen und musste damit am dritten und letzten Tag nur einmal letzter werden - eine lösbare Aufgabe.
Der letzte Tag brachte dann unerwartet viel Wind, bis 22 kt auf dem Startschiff und alle Teams mit dem großen Rigg unterwegs. Es wurde deutlich enger auf dem Kurs, die Ungarn konnten erstmals ein Rennen auf dem letzten Spigang für sich entscheiden. Euro Link wurde zweiter, gewann dann aber wieder das folgende Rennen. Im letzten Rennen des Tages ging es dann richtig zur Sache, tumultartige Szenen am Leefass mischten das Feld tüchtig durch.

Schliesslich gewann Euro Link (Friedrich Renner, Christian Meissner, Thomas Eggersdorfer) nach neun Rennen überlegen mit 7 Punkten vor BeLight (Miklos) mit 13 Punkten, dritter wurde Original Chia mit Flemming Klausen.
Mit diesem Sieg gewann Euro Link gleichzeitig den Deutschland Cup 2015 sowie den EuroGrand Prix 2015.  Dieser wurde erstmals in seiner Geschichte von einem deutschen Team gewonnen.  

18ft Skiff National Championship at Sandbanks - Poole

What a treat!

The 18ft skiff class is, as far as I know, the only class that gets to sail off the beach at Sandbanks in Poole and you have to keep pinching yourself to remember you are in the UK. The event is hosted by the water sports academy and run by Parkstone Yacht Club, which makes such a location possible so let's start with the praise for them.

Day 1

With a solid turnout of eight boats and a couple of boats out of hibernation the scene was set for a great event. You do not need many boats in the 18ft skiff class to make it seem very busy, with very high closing speeds, even in 8 knots of a breeze, and boats 20ft wide when the crews are trapezing.

Race 1 got underway in light puffy conditions. Pica made the most of the start by pulling off port end flyer to lead at the top mark from Hyde sails and LED. At the final downwind mark Hyde Sails had pulled right back up to Pica and opted to roll the dice on the next beat in search of victory, this proved to be very stupid and it eroded their margin over the 3rd place boat Nene Outdoors, who had overhauled LED and then Hyde Sails, due to their risky strategy. Final placings 1.Pica 2. Nene Outdoors 3rd Hyde Sails.

Race 2 saw chaos at the start. Pica and Nene outdoors, thought they would try for a port end flyer again, however with the fleet now back in touch with their time and distance was not going to let this happen. It resulted in some serious avoiding action from the fleet to dodge the bad mannered boats. Pica managed to do their turns and were left at the back, however a bang the corner approach paid and it got them back up to 4th by the top mark. Leading at the top mark was Hyde sails, followed by LED and FP. The positions stayed the same for 1 lap until a big puff on the downwind saw a complete reshuffle – Pica now in the lead and staying there to the finish followed by LED and Nene.

Race 3, now with more breeze the crews were 3 stringing up and down the course. At the top mark Hyde sails again were leading, however Pica and LED got through on the run. By the top mark second time positions were same but down the run Hyde sails were coming to the leeward mark in new pressure flying, however with a gybe drop on the cards with not much room they went swimming, the middle man missing his trapeze after the gybe and therefore leaving 2 on board, which resulted in the inevitable swim. This allowed FP to take the position. Leaving 1. Pica, 2. Led, 3. FP.



Day 2

With the sun shining and it looking like the Med in summer the fleet rigged on big rigs and got out to the start line in the lightest wind possible.

Race 4. Hyde sails made the most of a port end start, before tacking on to starboard and heading towards to the pressure which was coming from the land, during this Pica hit Hyde resulting in more turns for Pica. At the top FP lead after a solid beat followed by Hyde Sails and English Braids the positions stayed the same until the next beat where there was some placing changing Pica made ground but then got the wrong side of the shift and ended up really deep. FP extended and LED came from nowhere up the middle to round 2nd. Leaving FP to win followed by LED then Hyde. Pica came in 5th putting a blip in their faultless performance so far.

Race 5, after an aborted race due to no wind the sea breeze kicked in and it was perfect sailing. All boats behaved and started well all on starboard! Half way up the beat pica tacked and ducked the 3 leaders, which were FP, Hyde and LED. However the right seemed to work with the wind being steady this may have been a tide related gain, which allowed Pica and Nene to lead at the top, leaving the others well behind. LED managed to pass Nene to claim 2nd from Pica.


Final race was held in glamour conditions again. The start was clean Hyde sails opted to start on port to get out to the right where the tidal gain seemed to be, this paid dividends they crossed everyone once they had tacked back but where just too tight on their lay line and managed to catch the top mark which put them out the back of the pack. LED and pica then ensued in a race long battle with Nene, with Pica coming good and taking the title too, from LED and Nene.

Summary

It was a fantastic event - it always is. It was the classes 3rd time to Sandbanks. Next year it may be run as a European GP event (watch this space) so it will be even bigger, it could not be better. The class's health is great. We have 2 new boats arrived from Australia and also people wanting to come into the class. The classified boats currently on the market are of the highest standard and would make very viable boats for competing at the top level in Europe. The class will be at the dinghy show and offering a try and 18 day next year.

We would love to see some new faces. Get 3 of your mates together, each pay for a third, and come enjoy the friendly atmosphere and fastest Skiff racing out there.

18ft Skiff National Championship at Sandbanks - Poole

What a treat!

The 18ft skiff class is, as far as I know, the only class that gets to sail off the beach at Sandbanks in Poole and you have to keep pinching yourself to remember you are in the UK. The event is hosted by the water sports academy and run by Parkstone Yacht Club, which makes such a location possible so let's start with the praise for them.

Day 1

With a solid turnout of eight boats and a couple of boats out of hibernation the scene was set for a great event. You do not need many boats in the 18ft skiff class to make it seem very busy, with very high closing speeds, even in 8 knots of a breeze, and boats 20ft wide when the crews are trapezing.

Race 1 got underway in light puffy conditions. Pica made the most of the start by pulling off port end flyer to lead at the top mark from Hyde sails and LED. At the final downwind mark Hyde Sails had pulled right back up to Pica and opted to roll the dice on the next beat in search of victory, this proved to be very stupid and it eroded their margin over the 3rd place boat Nene Outdoors, who had overhauled LED and then Hyde Sails, due to their risky strategy. Final placings 1.Pica 2. Nene Outdoors 3rd Hyde Sails.

Race 2 saw chaos at the start. Pica and Nene outdoors, thought they would try for a port end flyer again, however with the fleet now back in touch with their time and distance was not going to let this happen. It resulted in some serious avoiding action from the fleet to dodge the bad mannered boats. Pica managed to do their turns and were left at the back, however a bang the corner approach paid and it got them back up to 4th by the top mark. Leading at the top mark was Hyde sails, followed by LED and FP. The positions stayed the same for 1 lap until a big puff on the downwind saw a complete reshuffle – Pica now in the lead and staying there to the finish followed by LED and Nene.

Race 3, now with more breeze the crews were 3 stringing up and down the course. At the top mark Hyde sails again were leading, however Pica and LED got through on the run. By the top mark second time positions were same but down the run Hyde sails were coming to the leeward mark in new pressure flying, however with a gybe drop on the cards with not much room they went swimming, the middle man missing his trapeze after the gybe and therefore leaving 2 on board, which resulted in the inevitable swim. This allowed FP to take the position. Leaving 1. Pica, 2. Led, 3. FP.



Day 2

With the sun shining and it looking like the Med in summer the fleet rigged on big rigs and got out to the start line in the lightest wind possible.

Race 4. Hyde sails made the most of a port end start, before tacking on to starboard and heading towards to the pressure which was coming from the land, during this Pica hit Hyde resulting in more turns for Pica. At the top FP lead after a solid beat followed by Hyde Sails and English Braids the positions stayed the same until the next beat where there was some placing changing Pica made ground but then got the wrong side of the shift and ended up really deep. FP extended and LED came from nowhere up the middle to round 2nd. Leaving FP to win followed by LED then Hyde. Pica came in 5th putting a blip in their faultless performance so far.

Race 5, after an aborted race due to no wind the sea breeze kicked in and it was perfect sailing. All boats behaved and started well all on starboard! Half way up the beat pica tacked and ducked the 3 leaders, which were FP, Hyde and LED. However the right seemed to work with the wind being steady this may have been a tide related gain, which allowed Pica and Nene to lead at the top, leaving the others well behind. LED managed to pass Nene to claim 2nd from Pica.

18ft Skiff Nationals at Parkstone - photo © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.com
18ft Skiff Nationals at Parkstone - photo © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.com

Final race was held in glamour conditions again. The start was clean Hyde sails opted to start on port to get out to the right where the tidal gain seemed to be, this paid dividends they crossed everyone once they had tacked back but where just too tight on their lay line and managed to catch the top mark which put them out the back of the pack. LED and pica then ensued in a race long battle with Nene, with Pica coming good and taking the title too, from LED and Nene.

Summary

It was a fantastic event - it always is. It was the classes 3rd time to Sandbanks. Next year it may be run as a European GP event (watch this space) so it will be even bigger, it could not be better. The class's health is great. We have 2 new boats arrived from Australia and also people wanting to come into the class. The classified boats currently on the market are of the highest standard and would make very viable boats for competing at the top level in Europe. The class will be at the dinghy show and offering a try and 18 day next year.

We would love to see some new faces. Get 3 of your mates together, each pay for a third, and come enjoy the friendly atmosphere and fastest Skiff racing out there.

UK Grand Prix Series Round 2 - 2015

The fleet travelled to Grafham Water Sailing Club this weekend for Round 2 of the UK Grand Prix Series. Both days were forecast to be light winds, so all the small rigs stayed very much in their bags.

After a brief postponement to wait for the wind to settle down, the skiffs launched to get racing underway. The score line for the day would tell the tale of a dominant Graham Bridle and his ChameleonI skiff team, but the patchy breeze made place changes inevitable. Some new teams had their turn at the front and all teams at some point found themselves fighting it out from the back. The end of the first day had ChameleonI in front with 3 bullets and The Rutland Chandlery Skiff Team in second place.

The second day was much more consistent with the breeze gusting up to 17 knots. The Rutland Chandlery Skiff Team took the first 2 races to bring them right back into contention after ChameleonI ran over the final windward mark to let them through and capsized over the line trying to gain the place back. Other teams enjoyed the breeze and the extra challenges it brought, sometimes ending up in a quick dip!

This brought the last race to a showdown between the two leading boats, where whoever won would take the win for the weekend. As with the whole weekend, the start was hotly contested and The Rutland Chandlery Team managed to hold the lane out to the left hand side of the course, whilst others tacked off into their own breeze. A big left shift made its way down the course, leaving ChameleonI and the rest of the fleet trailing The Rutland Chandlery Team around the first top mark. That was how the next 4 laps continued, leaving The Rutland Chandlery Skiff Team to take their third bullet of the day and, on countback, first place for the weekend event.

The fleet would like to thank Grafham Water Sailing Club for being so accommodating to the fleet and putting on some great racing. The Third and Final round of the UK Grand Prix Series and UK National Championships are to be held at Sandbanks in a months' time (5th and 6th September) with many teams in contention for both titles.

UK Grand Prix Series - Round 2

The fleet travelled to Grafham Water Sailing Club this weekend for Round 2 of the UK Grand Prix Series. Both days were forecast to be light winds, so all the small rigs stayed very much in their bags.

After a brief postponement to wait for the wind to settle down, the skiffs launched to get racing underway. The score line for the day would tell the tale of a dominant Graham Bridle and his ChameleonI skiff team, but the patchy breeze made place changes inevitable. Some new teams had their turn at the front and all teams at some point found themselves fighting it out from the back. The end of the first day had ChameleonI in front with 3 bullets and The Rutland Chandlery Skiff Team in second place.

The second day was much more consistent with the breeze gusting up to 17 knots. The Rutland Chandlery Skiff Team took the first 2 races to bring them right back into contention after ChameleonI ran over the final windward mark to let them through and capsized over the line trying to gain the place back. Other teams enjoyed the breeze and the extra challenges it brought, sometimes ending up in a quick dip!

This brought the last race to a showdown between the two leading boats, where whoever won would take the win for the weekend. As with the whole weekend, the start was hotly contested and The Rutland Chandlery Team managed to hold the lane out to the left hand side of the course, whilst others tacked off into their own breeze. A big left shift made its way down the course, leaving ChameleonI and the rest of the fleet trailing The Rutland Chandlery Team around the first top mark. That was how the next 4 laps continued, leaving The Rutland Chandlery Skiff Team to take their third bullet of the day and, on countback, first place for the weekend event.

The fleet would like to thank Grafham Water Sailing Club for being so accommodating to the fleet and putting on some great racing. The Third and Final round of the UK Grand Prix Series and UK National Championships are to be held at Sandbanks in a months' time (5th and 6th September) with many teams in contention for both titles.

Aktueller Stand Deutschlandwertung

Deutschlandwertung nach 2 Rennen

Skiff Race Tegernsee / Bavaria

The German 18 Foot Skiff League and the SVR-E is organising another Skiff Race.  

Two weeks before the Campione event we have another great skiff race at Tegernsee, a picturesque lake in southern Germany in the alps.

It´s on the way to campione and you may leave your trailer / car there - take the plane out of munich and return for campione..... Camping on the boatpark if desired or some nice bed and breakfast around.

Date : Semptember 5./6.  Segelverein Rottach Egern

Lakeinfo

Anfahrt / Lage in Google maps

NOR

Registration is open !

Skiff Regatta Tegernsee

5.-6. Semptember am Tegernsee

Der Segelverein Rottach Egern lädt uns zusammen mit 29er und 49er  zur Skiffregatta am schönsten (und reichsten... ) See Deutschlands vor malerischer Bergkulisse nach Rottach-Egern ein.

Zwei Wochen vor dem Saisonfinale in Campione ist dies nochmal eine gute Gelegenheit bei zu erwartenden moderaten Bedingung am Feintuning zu arbeiten.

Die Bootsliegeplätze sind auf der Liegewiese im Strandbad mit Beachvolleyballfeld und Trailerparkplatz in unmittelbarer Nähe. Übernachtung im Boat Park möglich.

Anfahrt / Lage in Google maps.

Revierinfo

Ausschreibung

Meldeadresse

Die Regatta zählt nicht zur Deutschlandtour.

Travemünde Week

Great beach party and tough racing in Travemünde. In windy and gusty conditions we had great and close racing. See all details on the tracking site. 

Original Chia (3-1-2-3) won over EuroLink (DNC-2-1-1) and Chameleon i ( Graham Bridle / UK 2-4-3-2) - No discard up to five races.

Find all results here.

Travemünder Woche

Great beach party and tough racing in Travemünde. In windy and gusty conditions we had great and close racing. See all details on the tracking site. 

Original Chia (3-1-2-3) won over EuroLink (DNC-2-1-1) and Chameleon i ( Graham Bridle / UK 2-4-3-2) - No discard up to five races.

Find all results here.

Masttrimm

Anbei eine Trimmtabelle für ein aktuelles C Tech Rigg wie es eines der Spitzenteams in Torbole verwendet hat.

Abkürzungen : FS Forestay,  Tops Oberwant, Shrouds Hauptwant, D2 Unterwant, CB Schwert

zweistellige Zahlen sind Spannungen,  einstellige Zahlen sind ganze Umdrehungen der Ronstan Spanner ausgehend von der Grundeinstellung.

Und für das kleine Rigg :

Drittes Rennen der Deutschland Tour 2015

Als dritte Station der Deutschlandtour 2015 ist neben Diessen und Travemünde Campione vorgesehen. Alle drei Events sind gleichzeitig Euro Grand Prix Stationen so dass wir hier hochkarätige internationale Felder haben werden. Insbesondere die UK Teams sind wild entschlossen !
Es erwartet euch bestes Champagnersegeln bei sonniger Nachmittagsora und im September dann auch warmes Wasser !  Wie immer mit "Red Fleet Kurs" für die Pinhead Teams und natürlich Debriefing mit den Tagessiegern....

Campione ist derzeit mangels Behördenfreigebe nach Felssturz nur eingeschränkt nutzbar, ab Juli wird wieder mit normalem Betrieb gerechnet (Univela Hotel z.B. derzeit geschlossen).

Mark Foy - Day 5

The final day of the Mark Foy was held on an incredibly hot day, with most teams taking in the last of the warm conditions.

Delonghi made the bold decision to launch on their big rig, being the only boat to do so. After some congestion getting off the beach, little prep was allowed before the first race was started. As the breeze built, the bigger rig of Delonghi started to slow upwind compared the efficient smaller rigs on the rest of the fleet.

However, with a huge sail area downwind, they were able to sail a much deeper course. Pica and Black Dog both had to retire in the first race due to kit failure, setting Delonghi up for a possible jump into second place. Howie Hamlin managed to seal his 7th bullet of the week giving Harken the championship.

The final race saw the rest of the podium decided, with the podium boats only being tied by a few points. Delonghi stuck to the lighter side of the course providing lifts and relief from the building breeze. Even with the monstrous power downwind, Delonghi couldn't pass Black Dog who finished 3rd to seal an overall second place in the regatta. Pica couldn't keep in front of Delonghi and surrendered their podium place to leave Delonghi finishing in 3rd place overall.

The fleet will return to Torbole next year for their European championships with many teams eager to come back and make the most of the guaranteed sun and wind that Lake Garda has to offer.

Mark Foy Sailing Report - Day 5

The final day of the Mark Foy was held on an incredibly hot day, with most teams taking in the last of the warm conditions.

Delonghi made the bold decision to launch on their big rig, being the only boat to do so. After some congestion getting off the beach, little prep was allowed before the first race was started. As the breeze built, the bigger rig of Delonghi started to slow upwind compared the efficient smaller rigs on the rest of the fleet.

However, with a huge sail area downwind, they were able to sail a much deeper course. Pica and Black Dog both had to retire in the first race due to kit failure, setting Delonghi up for a possible jump into second place. Howie Hamlin managed to seal his 7th bullet of the week giving Harken the championship.

The final race saw the rest of the podium decided, with the podium boats only being tied by a few points. Delonghi stuck to the lighter side of the course providing lifts and relief from the building breeze. Even with the monstrous power downwind, Delonghi couldn't pass Black Dog who finished 3rd to seal an overall second place in the regatta. Pica couldn't keep in front of Delonghi and surrendered their podium place to leave Delonghi finishing in 3rd place overall.

The fleet will return to Torbole next year for their European championships with many teams eager to come back and make the most of the guaranteed sun and wind that Lake Garda has to offer.

Mark Foy - Day 4

Gains and Losses:
Lake Garda is a great test for every boat! If you and your gear stand one week of sailing here you can go where ever you want, without having damage or breakage in mind. Today, another Spinnaker and a boom exploded. Another punctual breeze picked up at 12 o'clock and the fleet began to launch their boats for another guaranteed day of champagne sailing!

Pica fell back to third and team Black Dog jumped to second. Howie Hamlin with Scott Babbage and Peter Harris seem to be unbeatable. Only Stewart Mears (GBR 92), Jarrod Simpson (GBR 47), Lee Knapton (AUS, Mojo Wines) and Grant Rollerson (AUS, Delonghi) with their Crews have beaten him this week.
Soon it is time to say "Good Bye" to Torbole ...only one more day sailing left!

Please find the results of day 4 in the todays pictures:

Zwischenstand von der WM in Torbole nach drei von fünf Renntagen

Bei großartigen Bedingungen und moderatem Wind schlagen sich die drei deutschen Teams wacker.

Mit den kleinen Riggs sind stellenweise auch nur zwei Mann im Trapez und ungewöhnlich starke Dreher mischen das Feld kräftig durch. Spitzenplätze wechseln ständig so dass die Rennen eng und spannend bleiben. Einzig Howie ( Harken USA) - sowieso eine Klasse für sich- erscheint mit dem eingekauften Seven Mittelmann Scotty unschlagbar. 

Bestes deutsches Team ist derzeit Kaltenberger Ritter mit Heinrich v. Bayern ,  Christian Porsche und Maximilian Magge auf Platz 8, einen Punkt vor EuroLink mit Thomas Eggersdorfer "Eggi", Christian Meißner "Latzi" und Friedrich Renner. Henriette Gruse als einzige Dame am Rohr mit Benjamin Boehringer und Eike Ehrig geben alles und schaffen es regelmäßig auch zwei erfahrene britische Teams hinter sich zu lassen.

Nach den Rennen bittet der Circolo Vela di Torbole zur Pasta Party und beim Debriefing gibt's wertvolle Trimm-,Handling- und Taktiktips von Scotty, Howie und Co. Zwei Teams sind sogar zum Zuschauen und Zuhören angereist da verletzungsbedingt an eine Teilnahme nicht zu denken war.

Das Nachtleben rundet diese herausragende Veranstaltung ab ...... Es bleibt spannend !

Mark Foy - Day 3

"nightly build . . . "

Summary of day 3:

- one snapped genaker

- two broken poles

- three strings, as usual

- four races in phantastic sailing conditions

2 more days sailing left

Mark Foy - Day 2

The second day was much lighter with only one race being held in dying breeze. Many place changes happened up the beat with spots of pressure appearing and disappearing. The fleet was very mixed up with some new boats taking their turn on the front. Pica sailed through to a victory after a close upwind battle with Howie Hamlin.

3 more days are left of the world championships, with many boats in with a chance of being on the podium.

Tom Hill

Torbole

Mark Foy - Day 1

The first  day of the Mark Foy Championships have taken place in Torbole, Lake Garda. 15 teams travelled from all over the world with sailors coming from the UK, Australia, America, Germany, Hungary and Denmark.

On the first day, the fleet launched into a building breeze up to 23 knots for all 3 races. Howie Hamlin of the USA took 3 bullets throughout the day. Black Dog, Pica and Delonghi shared the other podium places and all close on points at the end of the first day. The rest of the fleet coped well with testing conditions after a wake up call on the practice race the day before.

4 more days are left of the world championships, with many boats in with a chance of being on the podium.

UK Grand Prix Series Round 1 - 2015

Perfect last minute race training prior to the Garda Worlds.

5 teams were met with a good forecast for a last minute event hosted by Stone Sailing Club.  The conditions provided teams with perfect conditions for boat preparation and training before all teams headed off for the Mark Foy Trophy in Torbole, Lake Garda (Club Area of Circolo Vela Torbole - northend of Lake Garda) starting on Friday, 29th May 2015.

2 new boats from Australia provided much interest in how boat speed would match up to the regular boats.  Steve McLean’s LED team recently purchased the very well finished ‘Appliances Online’ hull but would the spectacular paintwork match the looks? Graham Bridle and his Sail 4 Cancer team also recently purchased the ‘Fisher and Paykel’ boat to improve on his starter boat that also attended this weekend with it’s new team.

Saturday’s conditions made for tricky decisions on rig calls, with a fleet split on different rigs. The new boats showed their pace with the original 'Sail 4 Cancer teams' brand new small rig keeping up with an overpowered Pica in most races, only to find some boat handling let Pica run away with 3 bullets. The new team showed good promise managing the bigger rig in challenging conditions.

Sunday showed a much lighter forecast and all boats launched on the one rig in glamorous sunshine. Three races were held in a mixture of breeze strengths causing a lot of position changes. Pica dominated by getting their nose in front and being able to sail their own race. The Rutland Chandlery Team managed to post some good results, fending off LED and the huge single spreader rig of Sail 4 Cancer. The race committee did a good job of getting three fair races in on a constantly shifting breeze.

The boats were packed up after the weekend to make the long trip to Garda to face strong competition from teams travelling from all over the world.

by: Tom Hill / Stewart Mears

First European 18' Skiff Race

First race of the 18' Skiffs in Europe

Europäische Grand Prix 2015 die Termine sind raus

Season Preview - Start der diesjährigen Deutschland-Tour am 1.-3.Mai 2015

Das warme Wetter läßt einen wieder früh ans Segeln, Vorbereiten und Trainieren denken. Damit es nicht nur beim Denken bleibt:
Der diesjährige Saisonstart beginnt bei der Deutschland-Tour in Diessen am Ammersee, beim Christian-Fries-Gedächtnis-Preis vom 1.-3.Mai 2015. Lasst uns dafür sorgen, dass wieder mehr als 10 Boote am Start sind, denn dies sind die schönsten und aufregendsten Boote zum Segeln und die sind nicht für die Garage gebaut. 

Es gibt andere, aber keine bessere Art, seine Zeit zu verbringen.
Just Do it! 

p.s. be

i Wunsch und Teilnahme von mindestens 3 weiteren Teams kann auch mal wieder ein Training über oder direkt nach Ostern am wunderschönen Lago di Como durchgeführt werden. Wie steht es bei Euch?
Norbert