We’ve realised that we have been pretty useless at keeping
updates whilst on tour, either due to no internet or because we were just
enjoying ourselves too much. So we’ll do our best to fill you in.
After the Garda event, we hung around for a couple of days,
to chill out and get some windsurfing in. The wind was still not playing ball
and Mike and Tom only got a session in on one of the days. Both started getting
used to hooking in and using the harnesses. We started the long trip to north
Europe. We got our first glimpse of the great club that the Dutch event was
going to be held in. We were blown away.
The ‘Jachthaven’ had been redeveloped in the last couple of
years and it showed. The main square of the club had everything you’d need and
most importantly, the best showers we had seen on tour. The boat was dropped
off in storage for the couple of weeks we had until the event, and we headed to
Rotterdam for a couple of days. We had our first hostelling experience of the
tour and met up with some other travellers and generally enjoyed time being
away from the boat and van. We had a day trip to Amsterdam and certainly found
it lived up to its reputation. After Rotterdam we made our way to Eindhoven to fly
back to the UK for the Isle of Wight festival.
We spent the weekend working on the guestlist. By working,
we chilled in a porter cabin planning our next stage of the tour for a couple
of hours and the rest of the time, just enjoying the festival like any other
punter. We had it pretty easy, being able to get everywhere backstage and some
ideal spots for watching the best acts. Probably totting up more than our fair share
of carbon emissions for the year, we flew back to Eindhoven to get prepared for
the Dutch event.
The first day of the event was a practice race. Whilst we
were on the wrong rig, and had ill crew members, we were happy to get on the
water again and also happy we were on flat lake water similar to Rutland. The
first day was number two rig weather, with a busy startline on a thin course.
We came away with a 3rd and two 5ths, and a massive
squall came through in the last race making the speed runs with the kite up
pretty breathtaking.
The second day of racing was much lighter winds and a lot of
activity from the sponsors on the water. The safety crew were very good at
keeping the boats charged with bottles of water and chocolate between races. In
the second race, we found ourselves towards the back at the first windward
mark, but a lot of port starboard calls through the downwind gate meant we
pulled up to second behind Eurolink. We managed to roll them on the last gybe
as the went too far. And halfway up the beat hooked into an awesome lift and
found ourselves rounding in first. We all knew we were leading, but without
wanting to jynx it, no one mentioned it. Hyde were on form and were breathing
down our necks for another lap. We kept a loose cover on them as they got
closer. The final hoist saw the tack line get caught, the last thing we needed,
but we all kept our cool, kept ourselves between Hyde and the line, and in the
dying breeze, crossed the line in first. Our first race win over the European
and UK tour.
Going into the final day, we knew we could get a fourth
place and more importantly wanted to stay ahead of the boys on the green Gill
boat. After the days racing we ended up just one point behind Norbert, because
a pinhead boat scoring very well in the last race and thankfully in front of
the Gill team. So we finished 5th overall, very close the people in
front and behind us. The whole event was very well supported by the sponsors
and we enjoyed beer and pizza every evening. We managed to get a day
windsurfing in secluded lagoon in the lake, perfect for learning. All of us got
out onto the water and practice the simple manoeuvres in the light breeze
before the wind switched on. For the first time, we felt we were getting a good
blast on our kit and had a good british BBQ in the evening. Why british? It was
raining the whole time.
The boat was packed up and put back into storage before we accrued
some more airmiles and flew out to Croatia to fill the time before the next
event. We spent 12 days in Zadar, Split, Hvar and Makarska. We found the cost
of living to be much cheaper in Croatia, so ate our most days and enjoyed some
very posh accommodation. The best part was being able to buy 4 rum and cokes for the equivalent of 8
pounds in a nightclub. In Hvar, we broadened our watersports knowledge and
hired a boat to wakeboard from. Mike taught enough to get Mark and Tom up on
their feet for longer than 10 seconds. Most days we went swimming in gorgeous
warm water, wondering how warm the german water would be.
We returned to Holland to pick up the boat to take to
Travemunde. We arrived a few days early, checked out the local town and did
some much needed washing. On the Friday night, we picked up Mike’s sister, who
would become our supplier of hog roats sandwiches and drinks when we came off
the water. The first day was a windy one, everyone choosing their number two
rigs. We weren’t prepared for what was going to hit us. The sea state was much
choppier than we thought it would be, seeing the boat leave the water even
upwind. We started the first race and made it to the top mark, having to wait
on the bearaway for a safe point. We got her away and kite went up nicely and
powered up on three strings and before we knew it, we had to gybe to make the
lay. The gybe was not so successful, and we spent a lot of time getting the
boat back upright, with boats on the lap ahead screaming past Mike’s head. We
decided to call it a day, as we were all zapped of our energy and far too cold.
The second day saw main racing cancelled, but the harbour
race was still on. It was agreed between the team that it was the most
stressful hours sailing we’d ever done. Trying to keep an 18 still in shifty,
gusty conditions with large cruiser ships coming up a 50metre channel was
incredibly hard. We managed to round the top mark in fourth, needing a third to
progress to the final, so really pushed for the triple wire burn to the bottom
mark. Unfortunately the wind dropped out and we capsized to windward.
The third day was champagne sailing conditions on the number
one rig, and whilst the race area was a fair distance away, we all loved the
long kite run, triple stringing all the way, with the boat just starting to
leap on waves. In all the races we appeared to lack height upwind, so finished
up middle to back of the pack in all races. We spent most of the day battling
with the GER 66 boat, and a memorable moment for all the team was finally
putting into practice a textbook rolling move at the top mark. As we approached
the top mark, the geramn boat was in front by a few boat lengths and bore away
first, we followed, but kept the boat powered up with all three on the wire and
sailed around the other boat, still hoisting. Once sat to the side of the other
boat, Mark and Mike hoisted quickly and we shot off in front of the other boat,
positioned just where their apparent wind came from and managed to lose them
downwind. In the fourth race, the splicing blew up for the kicker on the
startline, so our days racing ended.
We finished 8th overall in the Travemunde event.
Though we didn’t have our best performance throughout the regatta, we put it
down as a good event. We all appeared very tired and were happy with our manoeuvres,
just needed some more sailing in wavey conditions. We have now head home, to
end our abroad leg of the European tour.
We have all agreed that we are a much better sailing team
that before we went to Hungary, we are now pushing the boat much further and
being much more ballsey with our calls on rig choices and generally getting the
boat going faster. We are starting to become much more race savvey, looking and
tacking on shifts and looking at the bigger picture on the race rather than
just getting around a course. There is still one more event on the European
tour in Plymouth, which doubles up as a UK tour event. As it stands, we are
second in the UK standings behind Pica with LED and Hyde close behind. We are
eager to use what we’ve learnt over the past couple of months, to get good
results a Plymouth and Poole, to hopefully retain our second place and come
away with more podiums from events.
