After the original two days of the Swiss Open Championship, only one race was completed (which LUCIE won), so a vote was taken among all boats that had entered for the Swiss Open Championship to ask if they wanted to extend this regatta by one day and use the Friday “practice race day” for the 6MR European Championships and make is part of the Swiss Open Championship. All boats agreed and the schedule for the day was changed slightly to accommodate, and we headed out a bit earlier than usual to try for three races between 11 am and 3 pm.
The Race Committee took the fleet all the way to the south end of Lake Uri, which unfortunately took a long time. It then took a while to set the course with the floating marks (the lake is around 650 feet deep, so anchoring marks is not an option) and around noon we finally got the first gun.
LUCIE had a good start, battling for position with FIN 67 DJINN (Henrik Andersin) and kept climbing up the first windward mark just fine, but shortly before the leading group of five boats made it to the mark, the race was cancelled as the wind was dying. The sun finally came out for the first time in five days, lots of layers of clothes came off, and 30-some boats lay completely becalmed on the southern part of Lake Uri.
Again we watched the time ticking away, and by 2:45 the Race Committee finally called off the day, as there was no more chance to start another race by 3 pm. We towed home. (A fresh new breeze came up on the northern part of the lake around 3:15 but it was too late.)
So there is no Swiss Open Championship for 6 Meters this year, but Saturday will mark the start of the 2016 European Championships. There is plenty of sunshine in the forecast and we hope for some wind, though the thermal could take a while.
The opening dinner was a huge success with over 200 sailors and company enjoyed great company, live music and a very nice meal.
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