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International
Flying Dutchman |
New Biggles 1998
A Trip to the East to collect the new "Biggles"
We, James and I, made a decision last year that if the Deutschmark hit 3 to the Pound we would apply to the management for a new ship, namely a new Mader FD. Guess what? The Deutschmark did indeed hit 3 to the Pound and the management said, slightly to my surprise that, Yes we could have a new toy. Of course, the pound is now stronger than at any time in the history of the Universe, so that man Parry is getting his new boat even cheaper than we did, Oh, I hate him, and what's more, it's going to be Yellow! It was quite a brave decision, after all "Biggles Flies Undone" is the current National Champion boat, the old boy is not slow. What if the new boat were not so quick? Well, I was abroad when the initial negotiation took place, admirably handled by Captain Parry. On my return I phoned Leonhard Mader and made sure that the boat was not going to be pink, as some nameless sailmaker had suggested. We asked for a few little additions, changes etc, all of which Leonhard very ably incorporated in the new Biggles and, maybe in his future production too. Now nice Mr Mader lives in Bavaria, not just Bavaria, he lives as far South and East in Germany /Bavaria as it is possible to go and not speak Austrian. His workshops are in Waging am See which is about 40 mins. East of Munich, very close to a lake, halfway up a mountain, in the midst of the most un-nautical looking village you could possibly find. Of course, we couldn't just have simple trip, Leonhard rang up two days before we left with a request for us to pick up a set of 420 measurement templates from a secret location in Essex. Only in the sailing game could this sort of thing happen. There I was, loitering about outside the Gents toilets at Thurrock at 2200 hrs. with only a 20 ft FD trailer and a rolled up copy of the Times as identification. A suspicious character approached and handed over the templates. They were enormous ("easily go in the normal car" he'd said). James spent the whole outbound trip with one end of the largest template stuck in his ear. James was coming along to share the driving and make sure I behaved myself. About 3 hours into the trip, whilst approaching Aachen, ready for the big right turn down into Germany, James let it be known, in a roundabout sort of way, that he wasn't all that keen on driving on the continent. All those foreign drivers and the wrong side of the road, one could see his point. It's amazing what you can do with cans of Isotonic drink and Mars bars..... only another 520 miles to go. Actually, after I'd gone off the road for about the 200th time James decided that anything had to be safer than letting me drive any further.... the lad did well. I took over again for the last leg through Munchen etc. James quite rightly having a horror of German towns and cities. He's right you know, they all drive on the wrong side of the road! Having duly arrived at Leonhard Mader's factory or workshop we staggered out of the (long wheel base) Trooper, to be forced to drink a Bavarian beer in Leonhard's lunchroom. I, of course, fell asleep, I just couldn't understand it. We were then very reluctantly compelled to look at our new ship. Just a quick 2 hour glance at it, you know, nothing too serious. Leonhard had arranged for us to stay at a local Gasthaus, about 4 Pecosecs along the road. We had to have another Stein there. You can't seem to get anything done in that area without somebody thrusting a great foaming stein into your hand! Leonard came down to the Gasthaus and spent the evening with us, going over all the changes that he had made, some on our instruction and some of his own alterations had been incorporated. The result was the very handsome "Biggles Gets a Life" which was now installed in it's new Banks top and bottom covers, and a jolly good fit they were too. Leonhard was jolly interesting but not once did he attempt to tell us how to sail "Biggles". Quite a chastening experience really, he just sort of assumed that one was very bit as good as all Olympic Medal Winners that have used his boats. It is quite easy to see why 17 (Gold, Silver and Bronze) Medal Winners have bought his boats over the years. He is very proud of his record, quite rightly in my book. All those medal winners' Solings, Starboats, Flying Dutchmen, Tempest and Finns pictures appear on the walls of the office or the lunchroom. There were one or two surprises in Leonhard's workshop, the place was full of new Starboats. There were about 6 in various stages of building. I stupidly thought that the Starboat Class was just getting over its post Olympic Trauma faster than most other classes. Not so, it would seem that somebody had told somebody, who had told somebody, who had told Leonhard to start building Starboats as fast as his little Bavarian legs would carry him. Funny old world isn't it, bear in mind that the turning over of the Starboat decision was not yet a gleam in anybody's eye. Another surprise in Leonhard's workshop, well a pair of surprises really, two of the most beautifully moulded Tempests you ever did see, both for British owners, and both looking really quite up to date, all manner of modern toys on them. The trip back was fairly uneventful although we did leave in the midst of a snowstorm which lasted until we were north of Munich. However, as we were trundling up an Autobahn, minding our own business, suddenly all the traffic stopped, and what's more it stayed stopped. When I hopped out after about 20 minutes, leaving James who is still a growing lad, to eat everything in the Trooper, it appeared that somebody was building a bridge and thought it would be easier with the road closed! After we had been there for about two hours, the local "fun police" fronted up and decided it should be open again, now! Very soon vehicles were streaming past either side of a very unhappy crane driver sitting with a large section of Autobahn bridge hanging above the traffic! We made it home without further ado. Of course, I was under orders not to show myself on our side of the Channel without having filled all available stowages with French wine. By the time you read this Captain Parry will have invaded Bavaria with his charabanc full of trippers to collect his new boat. We will have found out whether the new boat has got any speed about it, or whether it has all been a waste of time and money....I don't think so! John Best GBR 382 |
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This page was last updated on 12 February 2001 - 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 |