Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Regio Cup

The latest edition of the Dutch Regio Cup series went down in Tjeukemeer in the north of Holland last Sunday. With a fleet of 27 formula boards and just enough wind to get going...for a while and then stop...and then get going...and then, well you get the picture....classic lake conditions.
The wind was a side shore 8-10k breeze and with the flat water, it was perfect conditions for the north 11.8 and lightiwind IFJU fin. Unfortunately a lot of 2-3 knot holes as well and like always when you are racing next to a shore line, there is normally a shift off the land.
I was finally able to get a clean lane off the starting line and climb well in the first race of the day. The guys on the inside were gaining some on the lift but at the top mark I rounded 3rd and was flying off the breeze. At the leeward mark, the RC called the fleet back to restart as half of the fleet was stuck in a hole near the shore. Good practice nonetheless.
We repeated the scenario several times without much luck at completing a race and finally with a break ashore, the RC decided to run a fun race instead.
Although racing in these conditions is a lottery of sort, it takes a lot of skill to work each puff and climb your way back through the fleet if you get hosed.
Its really important to keep your head looking around in these conditions and stay in the breeze.
In most of the abandoned races, the lead changed several times but consistently the leaders took advantage of every opportunity. You can never count yourself out as usually there is always another chance to gain a position in the fleet.
Enjoy the photos:



2 comments:

PeconicPuffin said...

It seems to me that lake sailing calls for a longboard. I've done very little lake sailing, but it's always been extraordinarly challenging re the holes and changing winds.

I'll bet that fin mattered!

Anonymous said...

great story.