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International
Flying Dutchman |
Steinhude, September 1999 - 47 FDs from 3 countriesWith bigger fleets in a number of European countries, especially Germany, Italy and Holland, a number of British FD's are starting to travel abroad in search of some different sailing from our usual fixtures and also some testing competition. This year Tony Lyall has led the way with his new double trailer, and he and Andy Moss have taken their boats to Ammersee and Steinhude in Germany, and are off to Loosdrecht in Holland.. Colin Burns's report on the Steinhude trip follows...What more could you possibly ask in life than good sailing and free, yes, you read correctly, free beer. Don’t believe it? Then I suggest you venture over there next year to see if it is similar to this year. Two FD crews hitched up to the horses and rolled out to Germany to the annual September regatta at Stienhude situated in the north of Germany about 7 hours from Calais. The journey was going smoothly until Oberhausen when we hit an enormous (one to one and a half hours) of traffic jam. We arrived at Hannover Yacht Club at about 9:00 PM to be welcomed with a - yes you guessed it - free beer. After the long trip we were all famished so we ordered some food. Expecting to pay for it as you do, we were told to write our choices down on a form? "Wots going on here then?" we asked. It turns out that you fill in the form each time you need food or a drink or even zimmer mit fruhstuck, at the end of your stay you ask "sarleen bitte", bill please, and then you pay in one go. Anyway after food and beers we decide to co-opt some of the locals into lifting the top boat off the trailer to which they duly obliged (nice people these Germans) so that not to much hard work was needed to get ready for the racing. Four races were scheduled for the weekend starting at 11:00 hr. They would be back to back if the wind was good enough we were told. The breeze was looking really good at around 3-4 top end of clew one. Launching at HYC involves some paddling and then once you are about 100m from the launch site the crew sits on the spinnaker chute while the helmsman puts on the rudder and then moves to a position in front of the traveller. This is maintained until a further 100-150 metres have been paddled or sailed under genoa, then you can put the main up and away you go. The event was shared with the 470 (some of whom….. ahh memories of Spain, no ponds to fall in though!) and Finns but the biggest fleet was the FDs with 47 entries from 3 countries including the UK. As we lined up for the start of race 1 the port biased line caused the first and as it turned out the only general recall. The restart was clean so off went the fleet to find the windward mark. As you can imagine the racing is pretty close which makes good boat handling skills and tacking essential in making good progress in the fleet. Once around the windward mark up goes the kite get it set and settle down, making the boat go fast as possible. Giving the spinnaker 100% and communicating with the helmsman is a must to defending your position and gaining a few. At the gybe mark there is all sorts going on so it paid to know your rights and a little German to get around safely. The second reach presented itself as a three sail one and was the most exciting leg in all three races on the Saturday. With free beer and food on Saturday night the crews had to be careful not to take too much advantage of the hospitality as we had to race the next day. Sunday arrived with drizzle and very little wind. All the boats went out for the 11:00 start in what turned out to be very light indeed. Being in the right place made a huge difference to windward progress. A lot of boats descended on the gybe mark in very light and running conditions. Some gybed early to arrive on starboard at the mark but this did not pay, others went higher but further and then gybed in to the mark with speed on their side. This resulted in a lot of middle order and back markers to swap which some were never to recover from. The second beat was similar to the first with a split in the fleet left or right followed by similar differences down the run. The final triangle was easier than the first as the boats were not so congested. The final beat was a race back to the start line where a much shortened line for the finish was setup, this meant a major covering session right from the rounding. Most boats went right and then tacked for the line, which turned out to be the correct way. Verdict:- " Really excellent sailing and great hospitality, a must for all serious FDers" Report by Colin Burns (no results admitted!) |
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This page was last updated on 15 February 2000 - Please send contributions and comments to Richard Phillips mailto:100446.2371@compuserve.com . For more sailing links see www.sail-cd.demon.co.uk/index.htm |