Hello from Germany.
The sun is still shining, and it's 9:00 p.m.; that's how far north we
are. We went to bed last night at midnight, and it was still light
outside.
We flew out of the U.S. on Friday and arrived in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday at noon. Bob's flight from Boston was delayed two hours due to fog, so he missed his connecting flight from Amsterdam into Hamburg. We waited a couple of hours for him at the Hamburg airport, and from there we had a one and a half hour drive north to Kiel. It was a tough drive with our jet lag. Unfortunately, Bob's bags didn't make it to Hamburg.
The regatta site is amazing. The Non-Olympic classes race will be held the first half of this week, and the Olympic classes race the last half.
One thousand eight hundred boats are here. This is the 116th Kiel Week Regatta. Interestingly, right after World War II the British ran Kiel Week since they were occupying this territory at that time. The harbor was used for the Olympics first in 1936, then again in 1972, so it is a great sailing facility. I sailed here in 1987 in the Flying Dutchman.
The weather the last two days has been sunny and warm (75 degrees). Bob already has a sunburn.
Our boat got here okay from Holland. A couple of Finnish sailors loaded it onto their trailer in Medemblick after the SPA regatta and brought it here. We put it together yesterday and fixed a couple of things on it today. Since it is new, we are still getting it fitted with all the right hardware. We also weighed our boat using a special scale that we attached to a hoist (the hoist is not power driven, but hand cranked). A 470 is required to weigh 120 kilos when it is completely dry and race ready. Ours weighed in just about right.
We went for a short sail, but the wind was dying and Bob was falling asleep, so we headed in. Once on shore, we found out that Bob's two bags had arrived. Bob took a shower and a nap, and Paul went for a run.
The racing starts Wednesday, and there is supposed to be a front coming through tomorrow.
The initial report says there are 122 470s here. We will see. All our boat work is done, so we should be able to get a full day of sailing in tomorrow.
See you later,
Paul and Bob
Hello again. It's still sunny and warm, but today we had some wind as well. We made it out about 11:00 a.m. The wind was a bit on the light side. After about an hour of tuning with Elizabeth and Whitney (the USA girls), the wind picked up to a good twenty knots.
We spent the rest of the morning tuning with a Russian and a British boat. We were either going really fast or they were going slow. Hopefully, we were going fast. The boat felt good anyway.
Around 3:00 p.m., we made it in for lunch, and Paul shortened the tiller extension. We went out again at about 5:00 to do some boat handling. It was still windy, about 20 - 25 knots, great for boat handling. We rounded a few marks, did some tacks and jibes and a little more tuning. At about 7:30 we got in, just after the breeze dropped to about ten knots.
Fun day.
Tomorrow we measure in the sails, and the skipper's meeting is set for 7:00 p.m.
A little more boat work and a little more tuning.
See ya, Paul and Bob
NOTE: If you would like to follow more news from this regatta, you may access the Kiel Week webpage at www.kyc.de/week/kw98/
Hello,
We did some more speed testing today with Russian, U.S., and British boats. Our upwind speed has been great. Conditions today were mostly windy, about twenty knots, getting lighter as the day went on. Our downwind speed has been only okay. There are some good rides to be had on the waves going downwind--lots of fun.
The weather started to get rainy and colder this afternoon, just in time for the regatta.
We're not quite sure what to expect for the rest of the week; all the posted weather maps were wet from the rain. We hope it will not be too cold.
The 470 men's fleet has 126 boats. We have been split into two fleets of 63 boats each. The first three days will decide who goes into the top fleet, but all the scores from qualifying count.
Our course is about five miles from the harbor (a long way out), so we will need an early start tomorrow.
See you, Paul and Bob Team 2000
P.S. This morning we woke up to almost no wind and lots of clouds. In these conditions it will, indeed, take a very long time to get to the race course. Our trusty peanut butter sandwiches are packed on the boat, so at least we won't starve while waiting for some breeze.
Good morning,
The first start was at 10:00 a.m. today. Bob and I were the first ones off the boat ramp (we actually woke up the little ducks). But no wind. We drifted around for a little while, then went back to shore.
The race committee sent us out again about 1:00 p.m., but it is such a long sail to the course area that by the time everyone got there the wind died totally and they sent us back in for a very boring day.
Hopefully, we will have some wind tomorrow.
Paul and Bob
Team 2000
Note: The men's fleet has been split into two sets of 54 boats (109 470s) instead of 126 as previously thought. However, the scores on the Kieler Woche web page are combined. To access this page, go to the Team 2000 web page (www.rcyc.org/team_2000) and take the link to Kiel from there.
HELLO FROM THE 116th KIELER WOCHE.
We actually had breeze today. The sea breeze filled in from the east. We got out to the start early and did some practicing. The race committee started the women's fleet first.
The course we are sailing is an Olympic trapezoid, outer loop with a windward finish. This is a windward, leeward, windward, reach, run, reach, then windward to the finish.
Race 1
Wind was kind of off the shore, and the weather mark was very close
to shore. There was chop, however, coming from the ocean. Wind
was 5-12 knots.
The pin was way favored at the start, and we rushed to get down there but could not quite make it. Everyone flipped to port for the start, and so did we with a clear lane and six boats above us. We were laying the weather mark, so we just footed to stay in clear air. We ended up pinching off three boats above us, and a Swedish boat rounded first, followed by the Ukrainians ('96 Gold Medallists), then us in third.
We passed both boats downwind and gained on the second beat. We went off on the reach, but then the race committee abandoned the race. The wind had shifted so much after the start that the course was very skewed.
Real Race 1
For the real first race, the breeze shifted left and filled in a little
more. We were all set up for a good start when a Hungarian team
fouled us. After tacking away and starting late, we found a lane and
started going fast. The wind was very steady, so we just banged the
right corner and came out looking okay: top ten.
We jibed out at the weather mark and passed some boats on the run to about fourth. We had a really bad leeward mark rounding. The spin halyard was twisted and the main sheet was twisted and the traveler was twisted. We rounded the mark and got everything untangled but probably lost some boats.
The two men's fleets came together at the leeward mark, so we had no idea how we were doing until the last reach. We ended up finishing fourth after the whole mess got straightened out.
Race 2
The second race, the wind was about 15 knots and steady. We
started at the boat and tacked and led the fleet right. The shore was
on the right and Paul, being a lake sailor, likes to go to the shore.
We banged the right corner and were second to the weather mark
behind a French team. We passed them on the run, then extended a
little the second beat.
We went off on the reach but then ran into the other men's fleet at the reach mark. We went downwind with them but kept an eye on the French team. Then we went on the next run and beat to the finish, just covering the French guys for a win.
Race 3
We finally found our lunch and gear bag after the second race. We
had dropped it off on a foreign coach boat but could not find it after
the first race. Once we found it, we had our go fast peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches and water and were set for Race 3.
The third race was a lot like the second. We started at the boat, but this time went a little further left then tacked and went right and rounded the weather mark first. We seemed to be going fast and pointing really well. Only the French team seemed to be pointing with us. We did okay on the run, but the French team closed a little.
The next beat, we extended again, and this time on the run we gained. We reached to the leeward mark again running into the men's second fleet, and the French closed in behind us, bringing a puff. It was a short beat to the finish, so we just sailed fast and won the race.
A good day. Hopefully, no over earlies. We have not seen the official results yet.
Well, we have to go to the lumber store to make a roof rack for the Swedish team that is taking our boat to Sweden for the next European regatta, the Swedish Eurolymps in late August.
There were some great waves to play today, upwind and downwind, and with the yellow flag flying in the last race, we could use all the kinetics we wanted (the yellow flag rule in the 470 class allows unlimited kinetics when the wind is over 12 knots). There were some great rides to be had. It was loads of fun, not to mention the fact that we were sooooo fast today. Being fast is always fun, too.
Thanks for your support.
Paul and Bob
Note: Official scores did NOT report any over earlies for Team CompuCom/Kitty Hawk. Paul and Bob are tied for first with the Argentines who sailed in the other men's fleet. Both have six points.
Bob Merrick just in off the water, Paul holding the boat waiting in
line to come up the dolly ramp: Bob shakes his head and comments,
"It's just not fair. It's not fair."
"What's not fair?" I asked, fearful that they had performed poorly in
the last race.
"We're so fast. We're just fast!" Bob laughed.
"Why?"
"It's Paul. He's so fast! I LOVE being fast!" Bob laughed again.
A nice end to a fun day for Team 2000.
Hello again,
Race Day 3
This is the last day of qualification races.
They moved us into the Second Menıs Group today, which meant that we started last and had to change our group ribbon from yellow to blue.
We also had a slightly different course to sail: the outer loop. Yesterday was an inner loop, not an outer as mistakenly reported. The outer loop consisted of a windward, reach, downwind, windward, downwind, reach, then a short beat to the finish.
We got out early again, and a Ukrainian boat came with us. We did a little downwind racing with them in about 4 - 8 knots of wind. It's a long way to the course, and after about three miles they gave up and we kept racing to the committee boat. It took a little over an hour to get to the starting line.
The reason the race committee puts us out so far is that a race course cannot be set up in the middle of the busy Kiel shipping channel. While we are racing, huge cargo ships and military ships cross in and out of the wide channel. If we get in their path on the way out or in from the race course, they blow their huge horns at us --you probably can hear them in Texas! We are tiny ants next to them, and the bows of most of those ships are sharp---would not be good to get caught in irons or to capsize in front of one!
We left the dock at 8:50 a.m., and the race committee finally got things going about 11:30 a.m.
We were the last start and got to watch the womenıs fleet and the first menıs fleet start. The women had a general recall and then got off to a Z-flag start--the pin seemed favored. (Remember what the Z-flag is from our past emails? It means if you're over the starting line before the gun, you're in big trouble.)
The first menıs fleet got off after two general recalls and a black flag start. And the line seemed square.
Race 1 (for us)
The wind was 3 - 7 knots out of 220 degrees. The land was on the
left side of the course for this race, and the current was going
slightly upwind and to the right side of the course. We had to be
careful because it looked like the other two fleets were getting
pushed over the line early by the current.
As we were setting up for our start, the line seemed square and people seemed to be congested at both ends. We ended up starting in the middle of the line and punched out a couple of boat lengths on boats around us. I thought there was a big, midline sag, so we were way ahead of the boats around us. An individual recall flag was hoisted, and we wondered if it could have been for us.
We had good speed and a good start, and it looked like the guys on the left were gaining. We decided to keep going left also. We got a good header and a puff and tacked below the guys coming out of the left. They were clearly the leaders.
We were now running into the first menıs fleet. Everyone that had gone right was pretty far behind in our fleet. We decided to go the starboard lay line to try to avoid most of the bad air from the fleet in front of us. The leaders tacked and went to the left of the fleet in front of us.
At the weather mark, it was hard to tell who was in our fleet. Finally, the fleet in front of us went on a run, and we rounded the weather mark and went on our first reach. We were in sixth with two Germans, a Japanese, a Hungarian and an Australian ahead of us, with another German boat right behind, then a gap after that.
It was pretty much of a parade on the first reach. We were all going a little high, but in these boats you can't go low in light air because of too much bad air coming off the boats ahead.
At the reach mark, we ran into the womenıs fleet (the reach mark is the second windward mark when you are sailing an outer loop).
All of the boats in front of us jibed and went out to sea after the reach mark. We decided to go on the shore a little further (mainly to stay out of the current). This worked great. We passed the Australian, the Hungarian and the Japanese; we were in third now with two Germans in front of us. The first German was pretty far ahead, but the second was only a few boat lengths ahead.
The next beat, we initially just tried to find clear air from all the spinnakers coming downwind. We kind of worked left, and a Japanese boat that had rounded right behind us went right.
We just about pulled even with the German who was going left with us, and it initially looked like the Japanese boat was gaining on the right, but then we got a good header and puff at the port lay line and were way ahead. The German boat lee-bowed us, and we had to make a clearing tack.
At the windward mark, we were still in third, a couple of lengths behind the Germans, with the lead Germans still far ahead and the fourth place boat way behind. We worked the land side of the run again and jibed on the German boat but could not quite catch him.
Same positions at the leeward mark, but now we were running into the first menıs fleet--it sure is crowded with 170 boats on the same race course. The reach was pretty tight, and after a bad jibe at the leeward mark (the spin sheet got caught around the tiller), we went high to stay out of the bad air of the boat ahead of us.
About halfway to the leeward mark, we noticed that the current was pushing everyone high, so we started working below the mark. This helped. We caught up to the Germans ahead of us and gained a lot on the boats behind.
The next beat was basically a tacking duel with the Germans. We probably did about twenty tacks but could not catch them; so we took a third (hopefully, not an over early).
Well, the wind shifted and died and built and died; enough wind for us lake sailors but, obviously, not enough for the German race committee. After a couple of hours of waiting, the committee abandoned for the day and sent us in at 4:00 p.m.
We got in and checked the results and found that we were not over early: the Hungarians were.
So we now are still winning with 5 points. The French team of the Bonnaud brothers is in second with 6 points. Third is a German team, Scneider and Thieme, with 10 points. The Slovakians and the Portuguese from SPA are not here. The Ukrainians had an 18 today and are in seventh with 11 points. These scores are with one throw out, which we earned after four races.
Gold Fleet starts tomorrow--two more days of racing.
Paul and Bob
Team 2000
We got up at seven this morning as usual and Paul went to the German Home Depot to buy some lumber. We need to build some makeshift roof racks so that some Swedish kids can bring our boat to Sweden.
At about ten of nine we launched, first ones off the dock as usual. It was a long sail out to the race course in light air and then we waited until 2 pm for the first race to get going.
The wind was shifting a bunch with light velocity. While we were waiting we practiced our light air jibes, they're slowly getting better.
We were in the 2nd start today and are did an inner loop course.
Race 1
4-8 knots with land on the right and no current.
The first race finally got under way and we had an ok start at the boat but got pinched off so we tacked. (Paul thought it was going to be a general recall so he footed into the guy below us to stay covered up since it was a Z-flag start. It wasn't, only an individual recall.)
Port tack was the lifted tack so we stayed on port. The whole fleet got way left so when the wind shifted back we were way ahead with a French boat. There are loads of French boats, this was one that we hadn't seen in front before. We caught up to leading the French boat on the first run and then on the second beat we passed him on a left shift. The top reach was tight and we got a little low and lost some distance.
The French were right behind us again with the Swedes in third way behind us. At the end of the reach we ran into the womens fleet and were with them until the end of the race. It was a little tough defending against the French while trying to keep a lane in the womens fleet, until the French luffed way up with a womens team. We stayed ahead of them for the rest of the race to win the first race of the day. Yeah Team!
Race 2
5-9 knots with land far right.
The next race started at about four. We had an ok start again but again were forced to tack onto the lifted port tack. The whole fleet was soon on port and lifted inside us. As we got closer to the layline things were looking bad. Just in time we spied a righty puff just beyond the layline to tack on. Luckily we were able to reach over most of the fleet to round the first mark in about 8th.
On the run we held on starbord jibe (still mainly in a left shift), some boats jibed early. When the wind shifted back we passed all the boats that jibed early and the boats that overstood to round the leward mark in fourth.
Staying in phase on the next beat we passed a boat (Singapore) and gained some on the 2nd place Sweeds. We held even on the first reach. On the run we jibed out but then changed our minds and jibed back quickly just to change our minds and jibe back again. It didn't turn out to make much diference, we were still in third at the leward mark.
We held on the reach and then passed the Swedes on the last beat when we ran into the womens fleet again. We also got within a boat length of 1st place. But the first place Russians tacked on us on layline and the Swedes passed us at the finish because we had to make a clearing tack. We finished third.
Another good day.
We now have 9 points (with one throw out: a 4th). 2nd place is the French team with 26 points (20th place throw out). 3rd is Sweden with 26 points (13th place throw out). 4th is the Ukranians with 29 points (18th place throw out).
Tomorrow is the last day and the forecast is for 10-20 knots.
We need practice in breeze.
See ya, Paul and Bob
Sorry about the late e-mail. We have been packing and loading our boat to be sent to Sweden for the next race. Then the press office closed down, so we will try to send this from our hotel.
Anyway, the forecast for today was windy and gusty with storms. It proved to be an accurate forecast.
We got out to the start early again, with the wind blowing 10 - 15 out of the west, straight from the harbor. The harbor, however, is about six miles away--so the waves were able to build up.
We did a little tuning and were going okay.
Race 1
Wind 10 - 20 knots at the start.
We were the second start again, doing the inner loop.
Shore on the left.
We were kind of in a mess before the start of the race. Our "puller wire" had broken ten minutes before the start, and we were trying to jury rig a fix. (The puller line pulls the mast aft at deck level. This kind of acts like a lower shroud. It keeps the mast from overbending when you crank on the vang.) We got it fixed but were not to sure what the wind was doing at the start.
We started in the middle of the line, but were not looking too good. We continued left and got a shift, but the wind increased to about 30 knots, and we did not adjust to it and went pretty slow.
We rounded the first mark in about 35th??? It's hard to tell when you are that far back. We kept calm and just kept working. We just aren't too comfortable in that much wind and waves. We did okay on the run, passing a few boats.
The next beat we found a little speed and passed a few more. We must have passed a few more boats on the reaches and run (it's hard to tell when the spray off the bow wake keeps hitting you in the face).
Well, we ended up finishing 22nd somehow. We knew we could do better. We did, however, beat the second place FRENCH TEAM.
Race 2
Same wind and very gusty. Small storms blowing over every twenty
minutes, bringing gusts and lulls and lots of shifts.
We started near the boat end of the starting line this race and went left again. Speed was so-so, but we found a good lane on the left and rounded the weather mark eighth. We lost a couple of boats on the run (not playing the puffs and waves well enough).
The next beat we still were going a little slow and lost a few more boats. We ended up 15th. A little better.
Race 3
We started at the pin this race, but did not have a great start. We were in
gas for a while. We did find a good lane on the left, however, and the wind
had dropped some, so we had good speed. We hit a couple of shifts and rounded the
weather mark in third.
We lost two boats on the run. Still a little slow.
The next beat, we gained back one boat and rounded the top mark fourth. We had a bad set to the reach and ended up losing a couple of boats. The run was okay, but the next reach we lost another boat because we didn't go high when we saw the big puff coming down.
The next beat, we were very slow because the spin sheet had gone under the boat. This creates a lot of drag, and we could not even plane; but the beat was so short it would not have been worth fixing. We lost two boats doing this.
At the finish, we crossed the line but were about to hit the pin, so Paul did a slam tack. Needless to say, we flipped--but at least our bow had already crossed the finish line for an ugly eighth place finish.
That was the last race of the day, and we were not sure we had won, but were pretty sure. It was a long sail in. On the way, we had some hail, blinding rain and 35-knot gusts, plus some sunshine.
We finally made it and looked at the scores, and we had won!
Yippee!
We beat 'em up!
Not such a great day, but easy to see where to improve.
The good Swedes ended up in second, 10 points behind us, and the French team ended up in third, 12 points behind us. The gold medal Ukrainians were fourth.
It was a pretty good week for us. We hit a lot of shifts in all but the last day of racing, and our speed was good in light to moderate winds. I think we can be really good in the breeze. All we need to do is practice in it and get comfortable.
Our boat is off to Sweden. We sail there in mid-August. We also have a couple of regattas in North America in July. This is all part of tuning up for the world championships in Spain in September.
Well, we seem to be improving but know we can be better. We got lucky this regatta and hit a lot of shifts. We need to be able to do this well when we don't hit so many shifts.
Thanks for all you guys support.
We'll see you back in the good old U.S.A.
Paul and Bob
Team 2000