2015 Chronicle #1 - Northern Europe F-18 Regatta - The Plan

I was not planning on doing a chronicle for this summer’s F-18 campaign but since so many people during the past two weeks asked to be updated on our progress that I will give it an attempt and see if I find the time to keep it up and it seems to be to most efficient way to keep people informed.

Matt and I have been talking about and planning on competing in the 2015 F-18 World Championships in Kiel, Germany since we left Italy after the 2013 Worlds where we placed 39th out of 161 boats overall and 3rd in the Masters division.

Steve & Matt at 2012 F-18 World Championships

But shortly after our first place finish in Cat Fight II in San Diego, Matt had a seizure and was hospitalized. After numerous medical tests it was determined that Matt has a cyst in the Pineal region of his brain. This is a rare condition and only one doctor in the US specializes in the removal of these cysts. Net result is that Matt had to drop off the team and is now facing brain surgery to be done in the fall of this year in Houston, Texas. The good news is that there is a very high success rate for this procedure with full recovery. Matt is keeping his spirits up and is eager to get on with the surgery so he can get back to school for the winter term and start planning our summer campaign in Europe for 2016.

After we determined that Matt was definitely out of contention for being able to sail in Europe this summer, I put out several e-mail inquiries to people about taking Matt’s spot on the team. After quick responses I settled on two people. For the eight week F-18 campaign the crew position will be split between Seamus Woodward-George from British Columbia, Canada and AJ Hatch from San Diego.

The New Team

Seamus has sailed two previous F-18 World Championships; 2010 in France and 2012 in Long Beach, California. For these events he was at the helm but he is also very capable in the front of the boat. Seamus and I sailed one regatta together in Vancouver last fall. Since then Seamus has been attending University in Saskatoon, Canada studying Mechanical Engineering and is very eager to get back into an F-18. Seamus will sail the first four weeks that will include Kiel Week and the World Championships. I believe Seamus will be the only Canadian at the Worlds.

Seamus at 2012 Worlds (driving boat with red sails)

AJ and Seamus will then swap out mid-stream and AJ will sail the final three events. AJ and I have sailed together many times over the years though more in the Nacra-20. AJ and I had a tune up regatta in Long Beach over the Memorial Day weekend in May where we placed first.

Matt, Seamus and AJ are all within the same weight range + 5 pounds so we will be sailing with the same crew weight that I am used to.

The Schedule

Our plan is to sail in five regattas over the two months which will consist of 18-19 racing days. The first three regattas are firm and the final two are subject to change based on what we find out is going on when we are in Europe. Following is the schedule of events:

Kiel Week, Kiel, Germany

June 26 - 29
Largest regatta in the world
First Kiel week in 1882
4 race days (3-4 races per day)
39 entries (for our F-18 class)
9 boats from USA
11 countries represented
3 Million visitors to Kiel

F-18 Worlds, Kiel, Germany

July 13 - 17
5 race days (3-4 races per day)
198 entries
25 countries represented

Travemunder Week, Lubeck, Germany

July 23 - 26
Second largest regatta in the world
4 race days (3-4 races per day)
8 entries (for our F-18 class so far)
2 countries represented
1 Million visitors to Kiel

Baltic Sea from Kiel, Germany to Tallinn, Estonia

Estonia Cup, Tallinn, Estonia

July 31 – Aug 2
3 race days (3-4 races per day)

Mowestein Regatta, Lubeck, Germany

Aug 8 - 9
2 race days (3-4 races per day)

or

Valgeranna Camp, Parnu, Estonia

Aug 7 - 9
3 race days including long distance race

Results Postings On-Line

While the racing is going on it will be difficult for us to keep you all posted but you can look up results daily at the following links:

Kiel Week:

http://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/d56f7fea-0ca1-4972-83a4-d71d79f26b93/#!/results?classId=1924a774-dbe1-46ba-8996-a4a86847bd91

F-18 World Championships:

http://www.f18-international.org/f18-worlds-2015/

Travemunder Week:

http://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/e5b3abcd-6291-4aff-ae74-95b016e38d70/#!/results?classId=25775cae-2109-4515-865c-010fa28d3a2d

The Boat

We will be using a Nacra Infusion Mk II 2012 model which I purchased used from the Nacra headquarters in Netherland in March. The boat is identical to the boat I race in California except for a few minor improvements.

Access to the Cat Box by tilting the boat

On a historical note, since early April the boat has been in storage in an old US Air Force F-4 fighter jet hangar on what used to be a Canadian Air Force base from the end of World War II through the early 1970’s when the base was transferred to the USAF.

Nacra in storage in Zweibrucken, Germany

So it’s off to the races for us….

Thanks to all our supporters in this endeavor – especially my wife, Alida who helped me pick out the boat in Germany in March. And a special thanks to my German cousin Frank Reidelhuber. Without his help navigating the German bureaucracy to register and insure the car and trailer would not have been feasible. And we all extend our best wishes to Matt in his new challenge which he will overcome!

We hope this newsletter is a suitable means to keep everyone informed.

Stay tuned for the next Chronicle!

Steve, Seamus & AJ