6MR European Championship – Day 1

July 17, 2016 by
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Saturday brought about quite a change in the scenery on Lake Lucerne. The morning greeted us with clear blue skies (still cold though) and dramatic views of the surrounding mountains. The marina was full of activity, and everybody was excited about the start of the 6MR European Championship. Right after the skippers meeting, the fleet went out, all the way down to Lake Uri where we finally found a steady but slightly shifty breeze of 12 to 15 knots.
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The Sailing Instructions call for two starts per day, and shortly after 11 am the first race of the 2016 6MR European Championship was underway. It was not clear which side of the course would be better, so both the moderns as well as the classics split the field, only to make it to the windward mark after 20-some minutes to find out that it didn’t make a difference. The top of the fleet kept close, which made the roundings exciting (and in some cases noisy). LUCIE played her cards right and rounded in fourth-place position, defended that position all the way through the race and finished with a solid fourth in the first race.
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The second start of the day went well for the moderns but the classics again proved to be a bit trigger happy; the first two starts of the second race went into general recall, which triggered a black flag start. This time, LUCIE choose the right side of the course but got into traffic under shore and needed to fight for clean air, which ended up costing a few positions, and she held eight place around the first mark rounding. But LUCIE is a fighter and made up on the first downwind leg, constantly catching up. By the final leg, she was back in fifth position and fighting hard. And just at the last rounding, toward the off-set finish line, LUCIE snug through on the inside. ASTREE was too slow in getting the kite in and LUCIE was through and 200 meters on a reach to the finish line. It was almost a photo finish, but LUCIE prevailed with a one-foot lead, taking fourth place in the second race of the day and holding fourth place overall going into Sunday’s racing.
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Onshore all sailors were greeted by the LUCIE birthday party! LUCIE celebrated 85 years this summer, and she still looks stunning. She went right to the guest dock, and magically flags and flowers appeared. Over 200 sailors and guests came in from the water greeted by live music, drinks and food. By now the LUCIE birthday party has become quite the tradition and everybody looks forward to having a good time and discussing the day on the water.

And that birthday cake was out of this world! It took over five minutes until everybody had taken pictures of it before it could be cut. It was super tasty. The Swiss know how to make a cake!

Filed Under: 6mR European Championships

Swiss Open Championship – Day 3 Extension

July 16, 2016 by

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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.

Filed Under: 6mR European Championships, Swiss Open Championship

Swiss Open Championship – Day 1

July 13, 2016 by

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LUCIE is in Switzerland sailing on Lake Lucerne this summer. It’s her first time sailing in fresh water and her first time sailing at an altitude of 1,400 feet. It was quite the journey from Newport, R.I. all the way across the Atlantic into northern Europe, and then over the road through Germany and up into the mountains of Switzerland. Once in Brunnen it took two days to put everything together, but LUCIE knows the drill by now. It was incredibly hot without any breeze, but the lake is clear and refreshing.

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After arriving in Brunnen, the crew spent two days tuning up and training, putting LUCIE through the paces and getting used to sailing surrounded by steep mountains. This year, there are three boats entered into this event under the burgee of the St. Francis Yacht Club – LUCIE, STING and SCOUNDREL – so on Sunday night all three crews came together, had a great dinner in the town of Brunnen, right by the lake, and we all learned first hand how the storm warnings on the Lake works: once you see orange flashing lights at the shore you are being warned!

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So we stood on the terrace with a drink in our hands, watching the flashing lights, but were confused as there was not the slightest breeze and the temperature was in the upper 80s. Could it be a false alarm? Oh no, about 45 minutes later a massive thunderstorm came roaring down the Lake and blew everything in its way over. It was very impressive but at the same time frightening.

The Swiss Open Championship

Monday was another training day before the opening of the Swiss Open Championship. Most of the crew prepped their respective boat in the morning and went out before noon, heading south to the Lake Uri, which is part of Lake Lucerne and holds the most steady breeze, with 10 to 14 knots on average every day. It was another hot day and around 3:30 in the afternoon the storm warning lights onshore came on again. With the experience of the previous evening, all boats headed back to the marina and all the tenders and RIBs did their best to tow as many boats as possible. Once they were at the marina, many went out again to rescue those boats, which hadn’t received a tow yet. About 45 minutes after the first warning, a thunderstorm rolled in, this time coming down from Lake Lucerne and clocking about 53 knots of wind, which immediately created five-foot swells with a steep chop. Some tenders went out anyways to rescue the last boats, even towing one stranded boat off the beach. It was quite an adventure!

On Tuesday, the Swiss Open Championship started to overcast skies, light drizzle and little wind in the morning. We started the day under AP and eventually went to the Gersau Lake (western part of the Lake) where we were put under AP again before getting a race started in very light air. LUCIE got a good start at the pin end of the line and decided to go left and stay there, only to find a great lift in the middle of the lake when approaching the first upwind mark. It was a private lift for LUCIE as all other boats were either left or right on the course. LUCIE rounded the mark as first boat with more than a one-minute lead and started going downwind, pushing along nicely. It all looked so good until the breeze died and the race was cancelled.

The next four hours were a game of AP, flag Lima, moving the fleet back to Lake Uri, going further south and waiting some more. We had one more try to get a race started, but it was cancelled before the classics had a chance to start.

By 4:30 the race committee cancelled all further racing for the day and 30 boats plus tenders went home. LUCIE was still in good spirits, greeted by hot soup and cold beer at the marina and regatta center.

Today, the fleet was only able to get one race in and LUCIE took the win in the Classics Class.

On Friday, the team will kick off the 6MR European Championships. The Swiss Open Championship Race Committee has had all of the boat owners at the Championships agree and sign-off to use the two practice races on Friday as the final two races for the Swiss Open Championships

 

Filed Under: 6mR European Championships, Swiss Open Championship
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