Big Storms in Hungary

The second half of the Hungary regatta saw another day of very light winds. A later start allowed Mark and Mike to add a jib luff tension system, which we’d been told was the power button in light winds and allowed us to change the settings if the breeze picked up. Only one race was sailed in the light breeze. We got a good start, keeping ourselves off the line to prevent another OCS. The decreased jib luff tension and tweeking of the jib track allowed us t gain a lot more height and also to keep a lot of speed. We rounded the top mark in 7^th with LED and a German boat close behind us. We managed to consolidate this lead in the first downwind leg and rounded with two boats behind. We followed the rest of the fleet left as the breeze started to fill in. However, by the top mark, LED had gained over 10 boat lengths on us and we were now chasing them downwind. We gybed early to try something different with the german boat behind us going even earlier. LED and us caught up with the boat in front, but the places stayed the same. We thought we had a conclusive 8^th place until the german boat behind us caught a huge gust that took them all the way down the course and in front of us. The four boats all finished within 20 seconds of each other. That evening there was a couple of bands and a DJ at the club that all the teams enjoyed until well into the night.

Saturday was forecast a 60 knot storm coming from the north after a gentle mornings breeze from the East. After a few painful heads in the morning, most teams were rigged, but the breeze switched as we were putting our first few touches on the boat. We decided that with the forecast breeze, we were not going to launch as racing was cancelled for the day. We derigged and got the windsurfing kit out for the first time in Europe. The direction and depth was perfect for Mike and Tom who were trying their first beach and water starts. A long stretch of waist deep water made it perfect for us to give it a go without worrying about being washed into deeper water. Stu from Pica came out to show us a few tricks on water starting and then rigged up some of our kit to show us he’s not just a good skiff sailor, but pretty handy on a windsurf board too.

The final day, everyone was keen for lots of races and many chose the number 2 rig, including us. As we launched we had a huge guyst which sent us over, in just shallow enough waters to stop the racks digging. In the further freshening breeze, we sailed up to the startline amongst a few upturned skiffs. The breeze continued to build to around 26 knots, which was far from our comfort zone. After a couple of tacks and slow sailing, we found ourselves needing to bear away to get back to the ckub and course. As we powered up and edged to the back of the rack, the boat accelerated upwind. Just as we were about to go, Mark called the bear away off, as it was just too windy for a full powered bearaway in water only metres deep. The last thing we needed was a snapped rig or bowsprit before Garda. In slightly lighter breeze, we managed to get her away, nearly drowning Mike with the excessive Windward heel. We decided to call it a day and head back dead downwind for a very sketchy sail. At some point down the run, we managed to catch an eel in our bowsprit wires that stayed there all the way in. The recovery was interesting to say the least, screwing the boat up to wind at the last minute. The onshore breeze was very wavey and Mike found himself holding the boat head to wind on the bowsprit but being pulled fully out of the water before getting dunked time after time. The boat was finally recovered, all in one piece, which couldn’t be said for Mike and Tom would were seen cowering with ice packs on their elbows from the days sail.

The regatta ended with a disappointing 3 races, but we learnt a lot from other European teams and got a good suntan in the above 20 degree heat. Congratulations to the boys from Hyde, who won the event overall, their first ever European win. Mike left for a flight back to the UK and Tom and Mark set off to drive the boat to Garda.

Lessons learnt in Hungary

First day of the event was very light. The first start was a favoured 2 o clock. We tried to be a little more aggressive on the start line and managed to get in the front line. Unfortunately, we were over the line and didnt go back, so we scored an OCS for the first and only race of the day. However, we got to see our boat setup was not rapid upwind due to a few test changes to the jib. Whereas downwind, we still managed to keep alot of speed on a low angle which allowed us to make up ground. Tomorrow is looking just as light, but with a conservative start and a few rig changes, we hope to plug in a few results against a high calibre fleet.

Team Arrive in Hungary

We got to Calais in a few hours and arrived before our ferry, so before getting on, we afforded ourselves afew hours sleep in a nearby car park. We emerged from the crossing to realise the satnav wouldnt work for most countries in Europe, so the old fashioned map method would have to suffice. We also foudn ourselves ina desperate serch for fuel in France, after missing all the major fuel stations in Calais. It wasnt until Belgium we managed to fill up. Belgium was unevenetful, but a quick leg of the route before reaching the border of Germany as the sun started to rise. After a nights driving, we all decided to have a break and napped in the van for a couple of hours.


After a few hours driving into Germany we had our first issue. When trying to pull uphill, the engine of the trusty Movano cut out company without warning, forcing us into a nearby layby to stick our heads under the bonnet. After setting off again, the problem occured again and we dived into the nearest services. After another check over, we decided to call the breakdown service. We were told an hour and the man would be there, so we made th emost of the sun and started some tannage and washing drying.

4 hours later, a small car with a towbar turned up to solve all our problems. First problem was he didnt speak a word of English, second of all, he could fix the van, so ushered us back ontot he motorway to follow him to a garage. After turning us off into the small Ford dealer, he uttered some words in german about a 'checks', and proceeded to drive off. Mark was quickly on the phone to complain, but nothing really came from it other than spectacular display on incompetencey. As we were on our own, we decided to get the van connected to dealers machines to see if any errors came up. After a quick trip to a supermarket, the results for the van were in.


The garage couldnt get the machine to connect and checked the van over and came to the conclusion that they didnt know what was wrong with the van. So instead of charging us for the agreed service, he let us go for free mentioning, 'What can i charge you for? The trip to Germany or the great weather?'. We set off again, keen to make up the time we'd lost. We ate our dinner on the trailer and headed off. 

Spot the Skiff in the German Ford Main Dealer

The rest of Germany was a very long and careful journey up hills until we stopped at 10 in the evening for a long sleep. We got up for the last slog at 3 in the morning. This leg saw us entering Austria and through their mountains. The views were pretty impressive and a welcome change from the monotony of the German highways.

Through the mid morning, we entered Hungary and the amount of men on bikes increased dramatically and the temperature was well into the 20s. We were the first team to arrive at the sailing club and it was nothing as we expected. The water was huge and the shoreside was picture perfect. We headed into town to get some food and after buying some sun tan lotion to work out the exchange rate, got ourselves a beer and pizza for under a fiver. We were happy.

We unloaded the skiff as the sun dropped and enjoyed the close vicinty of the bar (less than 10metres from the skiff), The bar that is running a tab for each team. Needless to say we were looking forward to the rest of the week.

Final day at Calshot

The last day was a breeze on day. We knew that a few finshes would see us overtake KKT to get an overall third as they did not race on Monday. After a bit of hesitation, we made it out, to find the boat come alive in the bouncey Solent conditions. The first race we managed to start on time, which was a first for the weekend, and made the top mark trailing the carsington boat. Until the last upwind, we were a touch ahead of the red boat until a bad call on the layline saw us letting them past and finishing a few boat lengths ahead.

The second race, we were constantly swapping places with Carsington once again, but were content with a fifth place knowing we just needed finshes to secure a third. However, the close racing came to an end when a non-commital gybe saw us going for our first dip of the weekend.


The last race was cancelled, due to the increasing wind, and all the boats head in through the choppy reach to derig and prepare for the long drive to Calshot. The boy was packed up and after a fish and chips, we hit the road on the way to Dover.

A video of the weekend has been posted on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NDDLKW7Y_8

Calshot Update

We've had a good start to our few days in Calshot. Very briefly, yesterday was breezy and on the number two rig. After a poor start in the first race we found ourselves at the top mark in first place. However, the kite wasnt rigged well so, the entire fleet passed us before the kite could be fixed and we retired from the race. Second race we were in second most of the way until new team Ronstan cut a shorter corner on the last mark to leave us in third. The last race saw the wind die and our number two rig slowed as the number ones pulled away.

Today was a number one day. We missed the first race due to the longest wait known to man for a cooked breakfast and made it just in time to cross the line last for the second race. We managed to claw back to get in touch with the fleet by the last lap and knew we needed a solid result for the last race of the day. The last race saw us calling starboard on Pica trying a port tack flyer and followed them and Ronstan round the course to finish in third. We're sitting in 4th overall with 3 races left and hoping to pick up a place tomorrow.


After tomorrow, we head out to Hungary where we're promised that temperatures get well above 20!

Rank	Boat	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Nett
1st	Pica	92	Stone SC	Jamie Mears	Stewart Mears / Tristan Hutt	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	(2.0)	5.0
2nd	Ronstan	12	Loch Lomond SC	Craig Hepplewaite	John Annan / Cammy Steele	2.0	2.0	(3.0)	3.0	2.0	1.0	10.0
3rd	Gill	11	GCYC / Calshot SC	Tom Kiddle	Matt Kiddle / Oscar Mead	5.0	4.0	(7.0)	4.0	3.0	4.0	20.0
4th	Young & Reckless	30	Rutland SC	Tom Hill	Miguel Andrew / Mark Kudlinski	8.0	3.0	4.0	(9.0)	5.0	3.0	23.0
5th	LED	43	Hayling Island SC	Steve McLean	Nick Murray / Tom Bruton	4.0	8.0	2.0	2.0	(9.0)	9.0	25.0
6th	Aftica	52	Cardiff Bay Yacht Club	Mark Watts	Marcelle Newbold / Alex Farr	3.0	8.0	(9.0)	5.0	4.0	5.0	25.0
7th	Carsington	40	Carsington SC	Richard Allen	Richard Bland / Peter Shaw	8.0	8.0	5.0	(9.0)	9.0	9.0	39.0
8th	Hyde Sails	26	West Mersea YC	Jack Grogan	Mike Banks / Sam Caslin	(9.0)	9.0	9.0	5.0	9.0	9.0