Tuesday, July 13, 2024

It was bitter sweet to sell the boat which ended my era of F18 racing in Europe.  But what a run of racing F18s over 10 years; so 9 summers in Europe excluding the Covid year.  I went through my data sheets and here is a summary of some of the statistics for the 9 years:

·       Raced in 54 regattas at 30 venues in 11 European countries

o   Favorite racing venues:  Lake Garda, Lake Como and Croatia

o   Venue raced at the most times (10):  Travemunde, Lubeck, Germany on Baltic Sea

o   Body of Water raced the second most times (7):  Lake Garda, Italy

·       Total of 182 days racing against 1,743 competitors (many were the same across regattas)

·       For 31% of the regattas, we were on the podium in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place

o   Four 1st Place finishes including Nacra European Championship & Nordic Championship

o   Three 2nd Place finishes including Travemunde Race Week and Croatia Challenge

o   Ten 3rd Place finishes including Costarmoricaine Raid and Danish Championship

·       Started late (sailing the first one in 2021) to enjoy long distance races but sailed 4 of them in Sweden, France & Croatia

·       Raced 5 German championships where they adopted me as a German

·       Had 10 different crews but two (Matt Morris and Steve Leuck) were the main teammates with 30% of the events each

·       2018 and 2022 were the most active years sailing 160+ races each year (including US)

·       Sailed at venues across the breadth of Europe with:

o   Farthest East:  Tallin, Estonia

o   Farthest West:  Brest, France

o   Farthest North:  Hanko, Finland

o   Farthest South:  Thessaloniki, Greece

·       Raced in eight F18 World Championships all in the gold fleet except my first in Long Beach

o   Best Worlds results was 2013 with Matt Morris in Grossetto, Italy (39th/161 boats)

o   Second best Worlds was 2018 with Bryan Paine Sarasota, Florida (23rd/78 boats)

·       Race in three European Championships (Brest, Lake Garda and Bay of Roses, Spain)

·       Raced in eight North American/Americas Championships

·       Drove the VW Bora (diesel) I bought from my uncle a total of 108,000 km (67,531 miles)

·       Had three years where we drove 17,000-18,000 km (10,700-11,250 miles) between regattas

·       Average distance driven per month each year was 4,600 km (2,800 miles)

  Friday, July 12, 2024

After a two-day drive from Zweibrucken with an overnight stay in the Czech Republic, I arrived in Bielsko-Biala, Poland to deliver the boat to Kuba Baczek and his wife.  They live in southern Poland south of Krakow and will sail on two nearby lakes.  After going through all the boat equipment, they took me out for a nice tour and local dinner in their city which is nicknamed "little Vienna” because their region was previously part of the Austrian Empire and the city has architecture similar to Vienna. 

Kuba is the President of the Polish F18 class association, so he is very active with the F18s.  I knew that I had found a good home for my boat.  They even took the boat sailing for the first time on Saturday.

On Saturday I started my drive back to Zweibrucken which went a little faster without a trailer arriving mid-day on Sunday.  I had already sold my VW Bora to my great nephew so the car that took me over 67,000 miles (108,000 km) through Europe is staying in the family. 

Friday, July 5, 2024

I am not documenting the Worlds since it is covered on the International F18 Website. Through out the Worlds I was advertising my boat for sale and not receiving much interest.  On Wednesday I lower the price significantly to try to generate interest.  I was starting to resign myself to my plan B which was to drive the boat and trailer to the German Nacra dealer to sell it for me on consignment after I left Europe.  On the last day of the regatta there was a Polish boat derigging early with a torn mainsail and I noticed it was an 2012 Nacra Infusion (same as my first European boat).  I started to talk to the couple and then asked if they would be interested in a newer boat.  They said it wasn’t in their current plans but that they would look at my boat.  My trailer was nearby so I showed it to them right away and when my boat returned from the last race showed it to them.  They said they would think about it and talk to me on Saturday if they were interested.  On Saturday they did come by the boat, by that time loaded on the trailer, and said they were interested in both the boat and trailer if I would accept their offered price.  It was reasonable and we negotiated a cost for me to deliver the boat to Poland for them which I would do the following Friday.

Sunday, June 30, 2024

On Friday my three days of work started to assist with the inspection of all the boats racing to ensure they meet class certification requirements, weighing of the boats on scales, and weighing of the crew.  We had 136 boats preregistered so it would be interesting to see if everyone shows up.  We had two boat weighing lines set up with a lot of help from the locals including the Spanish Chief Measurer.  My job was to enter all the data into a measurement spreadsheet and be the final QA check on the process.   The process always starts off slowly as everyone gets used to their function but then we hit a good rhythm and checked about 50 boats the first day so running ahead of schedule.  Henry also had my boat checked the first day so that once Charles arrives on Saturday they can focus on other items.

At the end of inspection process we had 131 boats from 23 countries and 5 continents cleared to race in the World Championships.  There was a practice race on Sunday.  The primary controversy that arose were a number of black mainsails that had black sail numbers which were very difficult for the race committee to read.  At the end of the day after consultations with the jury a notice was published to the racers that sail numbers had to be contrasting colors so there were several teams scrambling to fix their sail numbers.

Thursday, June 27, 2024

On Saturday Andreas and I departed Gravedona to drive to Spain planning on two days.  I decided to drive down the west side of Lake Como since it is a shorter distance and I thought I had done it before.  Turns out that was a mistake because some of the roads through the towns were extremely narrow and the roads were very busy with Saturday traffic with everyone wanting to go to the lake for the first nice weather day in a long time.  We managed to get through the towns without mishap but it was very stressful for me as the driver.  Once we reached the freeway (autostrada) it was smooth sailing all the way to Cannes, France.  We passed by Nice which is where I was born but did not have time to stop.  We arrived in Cannes early enough to do a little sightseeing along the harbor packed full with multi-million dollar mega yachts.

On Sunday we drove the rest of the distance to Spain arriving at Ballena Allegre Campground in the early afternoon.  There were already quite a few F18s there and ran into many old friends.  The wind was extremely strong from the coast so there were no F18s out sailing.  We expected the wind to die down for the next days.

We rigged the boat on Monday morning and went for our first sail.  We had to beach launch the boat through small waves which was a little different for Andreas.  We had a great sail with perfect wind conditions with the wind building as we were on the water.  Coming back to the beach was more exciting because we were sailing downwind and had to pivot the boat in the waves into the wind to stop.  For the next three days we sailed the boat every day having to adjust our sailing time so that the wind is not too strong for us. 

On Thursday, my final day sailing my Europe F18, we left the beach round 11:00 as the wind was already building from off-shore.  We had a great windward beat going more than seven miles to leave the Bay of Roses and rounded the headland to the south.  We saw many boats anchored in nice coves along the nature park shore.  We then set the spinnaker for an incredible run back to the beach averaging 18-19 knots speed.  We then took a break and then did one more lap not quite as long.  Andreas was dead tired, and I was happy to have had such a wonderful last European sail.  And I came full circle because in 1969 I sailed on a catamaran for the first time with my German uncle Hans on that same bay when I was 15 years old.

After the sail I turned the boat over to Henry Lee who was already on-site to start getting it ready for the World Championships.  Henry is Charles Froeb’s crew for this year and had extensive F18 experience sailing with Ravi Parent last summer at Travemunde, Germany.

Friday, June 21, 2024

We managed to complete two races on the final day. When we left shore there was very little wind but the race committee wanted us on the water to be ready for when the wind came up. Finally around 1:00 the thermal wind started up very nicely and they started the first race. We had good starts both races (better than yesterday) and sailed well with good speed and favored the right side of the course along the shore going up wind to the first mark which we rounded in fourth place for both races. The rest of the fleet was very close to us going downwind and we were not up to speed so lost a lot of boats. We had finishes of 12 and 13 for the two races but Nikolas was happy that we had moments of good performance. He completed his first F18 regatta very enthusiastic about the class.

That evening Nikolas got a ride to the Munich train station and then took the overnight train back to Hamburg. Andreas Hammer arrived as we were derigging the boat so my partner for the rest of the trip to Spain was in position. Andreas was a foreign exchange student in the US in 1998 when we met. Since then he has taken several vacations with sailing school learning catamarans. On Monday morning we started the drive to Lake Como in Italy driving through Austria and Switzerland on country roads. The roads were very passable driving with the trailer except for some of the 180 degree switchbacks descending the Alps through the Malojapass after passing through St Moritz. This was a most beautiful drive with the snow capped rugged Alps all around us. We arrive at Lake Como on schedule and dropped our boat off at the AVAL sailing club in Gravedona. We did not have far to go to our apartment because it was directly across from the sailing club. We only had to climb down four stories of steps to get to our boat.

On Tuesday we rigged our boat and were ready to sail by the afternoon. Another German F18 that raced in Walchensee had the same plan to do some Lake Como sailing so we both went out together. Tuesday was a perfect Lake Como sailing day and we had a lot of fun. On Wednesday there was less wind but we still went sailing. There were sections of the lake with good wind and then at other times it was very light. We almost had to paddle back but then the wind came back in.

On Wednesday there was very little wind so we did not go sailing and on Friday thunderstorms were threatening all day so we passed on sailing. We had to derig the boat avoiding the worst of the rain to be ready for an early departure on Saturday. Friday evening we had dinner Maurizo Stella who I have know for many years. Maurizo lives at Lake Como and has been at many F18 regattas that I have attended including Cata Cup, most of the Italian regattas and the Croatia raid which he won this year. Two other Italian F18 sailors also joined us for a great meal in the mountains overlooking Lake Como.

Saturday, June 15, 2024

Yesterday was an unexpectantly amazing day. We attended the competitor’s meeting in the morning which had 15 boats present. We were scheduled to start at 11:30 but they raised a “shore postponement” flag due to light wind. After experiencing very light wind all week we were not surprised but then about 12:15 they lowered the postpone flag and we were off to the races. The wind was light while getting out of the cove but as soon as we were on the main part of the lake the wind kicked up to 13-14 kts out of the north. We ended up having four good races with the wind lightening for the last race. The wind was very shifty both in direction and velocity. In the first race we finished 10th but then while sailing the second race discovered that we had sailed the wrong course in the first race. We had finished directly downwind but were supposed to go around the leeward mark again so technically had unintentionally “cut the corner”. After we got ashore we checked with the race committee if they had noticed and when they said they had not, we withdrew from the race so receive a score of NSC (Not Sailed Course). For the other three races we had noticed that the right side of the course where tacking along the coast seemed to be better because of sailing in stronger wind. In race two we placed 12th and then we had two 6th place finishes. For the last race we managed to round inside a clump of six boats and passed four of them to improve our finish. At the end of the day we are in 10th place overall and hope that we sail enough races to get a throw-out. I was pleased how Nikolas performed in double trapezing conditions given that all our practice sessions had been for very light wind. We had very good boat speed downwind and typically were catching boats. The fleet was very competitive with a different boat winning each race. There are only a few points between the top four boats with Frank Weigelt and Fabian Wunderle in the lead.

Today they started with another shore postponement due to lack of wind. We enjoyed some good German cake while waiting and waiting. Finally at 2:30 I thought they were going to send us out because some wind had come up but instead they cancelled any racing for the day because there was a threat of a thunderstorm arriving and we had some rain in the afternoon. Tomorrow the forecast is for no rain so hopefully we have some sun that can generate a thermal wind for good racing. Stay tuned.

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Yesterday was a very eventful day with Nikolas arriving at 9:00 after taking the sleeper train from Hamburg to Munich and then a local train to the nearby town of Kochel am See. Our first mission was to rig the boat and then go for a practice sail. When we launched in the afternoon the wind was light but we managed to sail to the middle of the lake under a grey sky. We had a good practice session and found a few rigging issues that we need to fix before the next sail.

This morning we quickly fixed the boat and rigged it to sail. Just when we were about ready to launch we heard thunder in the mountains. We decide to wait until the thunderstorm passed which took about an hour. Besides having a practice sail, our main goal was to move the boat to the campground where the regatta will be organized since we had rigged the boat at a different club. This would require Nikolas to sail the boat by himself while I drove the car and trailer to the new location. We first wanted a practice sail but after the thunderstorm passed there was very light wind. We started out on the sail but after about 45 minutes realized it would be very slow going for Nikolas to get to the campground. We decided to drop me off on a peninsula and I would walk back to the car while Nikolas sailed/drifted on. We stayed in communication with VHF radios. We finally met at the campground beach. At the campground many F18s were arriving so it started to feel like a regatta was coming and I was seeing a lot of sailors that I had met previous years. Tomorrow we start the racing and it will be very interesting to see what the wind does.

 Tuesday, June 11, 2024

This is the beginning of my short chronicle for racing in Europe in 2024 - my final summer. I have decided to sell my boat and it is actively on the market. I will sail one last German Championship regatta. This will be my fifth German Championship over my nine years of racing in Europe. This is a new venue for me at a small town (Walchensee) in the German Alps at 800 meters (2,600 feet) south of Munich. I will race with Nikolas Noetzle who is from Kiel, Germany but is a dual German/US citizen who I met many years ago when he was studying at San Diego State University.

I picked the boat up in Denmark leaving the farm where my Europe boat had been stored every winter since 2015. I spent the weekend visiting with Finn, Britta and Henrik, our former exchange student who now has 2 boys 7 and 4 years old. It was great to catch up with them again. In Kiel we had a test sail to make sure everything was working before I left the proximity of the Nacra dealer. Of course, Kiel had to rain on us during the final part of the sail and while putting the boat away. Then the boat went to the Nacra dealer for some minor hull repairs remaining from a collision in the German Championships last year. After spending a few days in Kiel, I departed for southern German on Saturday arriving on Sunday. I drove by myself since Nikolas has to work Monday and Tuesday, and then will come by train to Walchensee taking the overnight sleeper train. That sounds so restful sleeping all night with the motions of the railcar.

After dropping the boat off at the sailing club, as I arrived at our apartment the sky just opened up with major rain and marbles of hail. Welcome to the Alps! Today it was extremely cold (for a California guy) with a high temperature of 55 degrees (13 Celsius) as I worked on the boat. It is supposed to warm up for the regatta, I hope. Most likely, being lake sailing the wind will be lighter and that is what I have seen so far except when the thunderstorm was coming through. It will not be a big event with currently 15 boats registered, most of them from Southern Germany so I only know about a third of the competitors from previous years. Nikolas arrives Wednesday morning and then we will rig the boat and have two days for practice sails before the regatta begins on Friday. Stay tuned!