6MR European Championship Results

July 20, 2016 by Leave a Comment

 

After four days of racing, the 6MR European Championship wrapped up yesterday on Lake Uri in Brunnen, Switzerland. Lucie successfully defended the August Ringvold Memorial Trophy and the Baum and König Trophy and took fifth place overall in the classics class.

Full report on the final day of racing by Jens Lange will be posted shortly. Stay tuned.

Click here to review full results from the event

Filed Under: 6mR European Championships

6MR European Championship – Day 3

July 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment

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Today we had an early skipper’s meeting, and headed straight out to the very south end of Lake Uri. There was no wind in the morning and we spent two hours bobbing around. We saw the bikinis coming out on SCOUNDREL and serious tanning work being done.

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But at 12:45 pm, the thermal breeze hit hard, exactly like the day before. It went from zero to 15 knots in less than 10 minutes. We saw it coming by just looking at when the kite surfers coming out on the northern part of the Lake. LUCIE got right into the groove, but it was a very hard fight. She likes the wind speed to be more on the lighter side, being a true Rule 2 boat, she suffers against Rule 3 boats in heavier air. But she fought like hell, playing both sides of the course, going further than the other boats, not getting into downwind duels and she was rewarded with a solid fourth place in the first race of the day (Race 5 overall).

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We think we heard a deep sigh of relief from the race organizers — five races in the bag and fully on schedule — from now on we have a valid championship!

After some quick sail changes between races and support to one of the other StFYC boats, it was time for the second race of the day. The fleet was lined up beautifully on the starting line, and then the Xray flag for individual recall went up. Two boats immediately returned and started again, but the flag stayed up. Someone was over early but did not return.

LUCIE was kicking and fighting, seeking clean air in her own path. At 16 knots of breeze she heeled a lot but still sailed flawlessly. She was the sixth boat over the finish line, but as some of us had feared, LUCIE was the one boat, which was OCS but did not return. As this was the sixth race of the Championship though each boat earned its first striker, so this OCS got thrown out.

Two more races are scheduled for tomorrow, which is the last day of the 6MR European Championship. We’re looking forward to more racing!

— Jens Lange

Filed Under: 6mR European Championships, Photos

6MR European Championship – Day 2

July 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Photo Credit: Gilles Favez

Photo Credit: Gilles Favez

Isn’t it funny how fast we forget the miserable weather we had to stand for five days once we get two most gorgeous days in a row? Yesterday’s start of the 6 Meter Europeans presented us with blue skies and warmth and it continued today the same way.

This morning’s skipper’s meeting was pulled ahead by half an hour to get the fleet out early. Straight to the southern part of Lake Uri with some nice morning breeze, but just as the whole fleet got there the wind died, not the slightest movement of air and it didn’t take long for it to become almost unbearable in the sun. So, we had an early lunch, finding shade under the hoisted mainsail and waited. Soon enough we saw the kite surfers come out on the northern part of the lake – how long would it take for the thermal breeze to reach us? Not too long, within 10 minutes the wind speed went from zero to 15 knots, and most boats went and changed genoas to accommodate. Soon thereafter the first race of the day was underway.

LUCIE started very well and had good pace on the first leg but got boxed out at the first rounding. SUI44 ASTREE broke her boom in this rounding. At the end LUCIE emerged in 8th position and had three more legs until the finish to gain on the other competitors.

Just when the first race finished, the wind took a little break (perfect timing actually) and the committee boat took the fleet a bit further to the north and we had wind again!

It was almost 3 pm when we finally got to the second start of the day and there was intense fighting on the line for best position, which resulted in a few individual recalls. What is a bit challenging here in Switzerland is the fact that VHF radios are not allowed for communication amongst the fleet on the water, so the race committee is not calling out the sail numbers of the boats that were over early. Instead it is the boat’s own responsibility to know if they were over early or not! So three boats in the classic fleet took the bet and went on rather than re-starting, and they all received an OCS! LUCIE played the right side of the course along with the rest of the fleet. The wind held up well, but it was almost 4 pm, so the race committee shortened the course for the classics at the third mark where LUCIE crossed again as the 6th boat.

Watch the first and second race of the day on the event’s tracker feed (links below):

First race of the day: http://player.georacing.com/?event=100332&race=93083&application_id=NaNrace 3 – classic&location=Brunnen

Second race of the day: http://player.georacing.com/?event=100332&race=93097&application_id=NaNrace 4 – classic&location=Brunnen

Filed Under: 6mR European Championships
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