In case you missed the ‘one man and his keelboat’, that trains daily in Dun Laoghaire, I am competing in North Eastern Europe in the Autumn series of the International 2.4mR Sailing League.
The first regatta was the Czech Grand Prix on Lake Macha on the last weekend of September. There were 15 competitors from Czechia, Germany, Austria and Ukraine. The first day of the regatta was light winds largely below 5 knots. A single race was completed before the wind died altogether. The second day saw a slightly stronger breeze with Detlef Muller-Boling from Germany taking the lead. The final day saw the strongest wind with a consistent breeze of 10 knots. On the first race of the final day I managed to get myself an OCS, and finished 4th overall in addition to winning 2 races. The podium places were taken by Detlef, followed by Daniel Bina and Alexander Sadilek from Czechia.
The following weekend I participated in the German National’s in Plau am See. This regatta saw another few days of very light winds. There were 46 competitors from 7 nations including Heiko Kroger the current world champion and most importantly, Megan Pascoe made the journey from England. The light winds, even made getting to the racecourse, through the narrow sheltered river between the harbour and the lake, a challenge. The race committee squeezed in 5 races in the first 2 days, an achievement considering how light the wind was. On the 3rd day there was no racing due to insufficient wind. The podium was occupied by Christophe Tromer from Germany, followed by Megan and Heiko. I finished 16th overall.
The following weekend I journeyed to Sweden for the Hostulven Cup in Havstens Fjord. There were 10 sailors competing from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany while I represented Ireland again! Finally I was able to do some racing in some stronger winds, with the first day seeing 20-25 knots, resulting in some sailors suffering equipment failures and sinking boats. It was also, unsurprisingly, considerably colder than the previous venues I had competed in! The second day of the regatta returned to the very light and shifty conditions I have grown to expect from sailing on European lakes.
The winner of the regatta was Matz Brown from Sweden, followed in second and third by Holger Humborg from Germany and myself, securing my first podium finish in an international regatta. One more regatta remains, right in the centre of Antwerp, at the end of October. This regatta has had very mixed wind speeds over the years.
After that, I look forward to winter sailing in Dun Laoghaire!
Regards,
Patrick
