2019 Chronicle #1 - Europe Campaign with Max
I am now off for my fifth summer campaigning my F18 in Europe. When I started doing this in 2015 I would never have thought that I would still be at it.
Matt, who has sailed with me the most, has now graduated from University and is in the real working world so I have found another crew for this summer. This year I will be sailing with Max Tjärnsved who is from Stockholm, Sweden. I met Max last summer at the Nordic Championships in Finland where he was sailing a Wildcat F18. He is taking a year off before starting University and first spent the winter working and skiing in Austria.
Max skiing in Austria this past winter
Max returned to Sweden at the end of April and completed a J-70 regatta in Stockholm recently. We will be meeting in Sonderborg, Denmark on Monday, June 3rd to start our summer adventure. We will spend four days in Sonderborg updating the boat’s rigging and doing some sailing. I have bought a new Nacra Decksweeper mainsail to put on the boat.
Max (on left) with his J-70 racing team mates
The Schedule
Our plan is to sail in six regattas over ten weeks which will consist of 21 race days and an estimated 60 races (typically 3-4 races per race day). Following is the schedule of events shown on the map of Europe. Point A is the starting and ending point in Germany (Zweibrucken) where Steve’s mother was raised and the car is stored. Point B is the Nacra factory in Netherlands where Steve will pick up the new sails and other boat parts. Max is coming by train from Stockholm (D) and we will meet in Sonderborg, Denmark (C).
Normally my first regatta each summer has been Kiel Week but unfortunately F18s were excluded from the Kiel Week program this year to make room for Moths to race. Moths are a high tech type of foiling boats sailed by one person. Instead I found another regatta on the Baltic to be our first event and it should have many of the same people who typically would race in Kiel Week. Here is our schedule:
In addition to the racing we have a number of sail training days scheduled since we have not sailed together before. Following is where we will do our training:
1) Jun 4-6 Sonderborg, Denmark
2) Jun 11-12 Travemunde, Germany
3) Jun 18-21 Lake Garda, Italy (Campione de Garda)
4) Jun 24 -27 Costa Brava, Spain
5) Jul 9-12 Lake Garda Italy (Riva del Garda)
After the final regatta at Lake Como Max and I will drive back to Sonderborg to return the boat to the barn (literally). Then Max will take the train back to Stockholm and I will fly back to San Diego on August 15. I am returning a little earlier this year because two week after my return I depart to drive my US boat to Michigan for the North American Championships from September 16-19.
After the North American’s Alida will join me for a two week vacation while she is on her fall school break to stay at her Michigan Lake cottage and then take a leisurely drive through the Eastern US to get the boat to Florida. I have entered the Cata Cup in St Barths in the Caribbean again so the boat will be shipped from Florida to the event.
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:
Ostseepokal, Scharbeutz Germany:
World Championships:
http://www.f18-international.org/f18-worlds-2018-usa/
Travemunde Race Week:
NACRA World Championships:
https://www.nacraracing.com/world-championship-2019-august-4th-9th-gravedona-italy/
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 2015. The boat is identical to the boat I race in California. It has been updated with the latest Decksweeper (DS) mainsail technology. The DS as its name implies goes all the way to the trampoline to create a aerodynamic plate effect for the sail to increase speed and pointing ability but it makes sailing the boat more difficult because you only have a small area behind the sail to go through during maneuvers.
Decksweeper Mainsail on my boat at Cata Cup. Notice the small area behind the sail to pass through during boat maneuvers. For tacking the crew goes in front of the mast but for jibes in heavy wind both skipper and crew go behind the sail one at a time. Usually we have the crew go first.
The boat has been in storage in Sonderborg, Denmark since last September at the farm of one of our former exchange student’s (Henrik) parents. The farm house was built in 1777!
Britta and Finn Kuesler in front of their 1777 farm house. Notice Finn’s T-shirt. That could also apply to F18 racing!
The Car
To get us around Europe I have a 2001 VW Bora (same as a Jetta) diesel station wagen that I bought from my German uncle. This summer’s itinerary will have us driving approximately 10,500 km (6,500 miles) around Europe.
Our mule for towing the boat around Europe…..
So it’s off to the races for us….
2018 Start of Cata Cup Race
Thanks to all our supporters in this endeavor – especially my wife, Alida who is supporting my retirement hobby! She will be spending three weeks at her summer cottage on Lake Huron, Michigan before returning to her librarian position for the new school year starting in July. And to Finn and Britta Kuseler family for storing my boat in Denmark and hosting us for four days of training. And my German cousin Frank Reidelhuber who takes care of all the car maintenance during the off-season. Also without his help navigating the German bureaucracy to register and insure the car and trailer this adventure would not be feasible.
Stay tuned for our next update in this blog under “2019 Latest News”!