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.