Morges, 5-6 June 2010

14 A Cats arrived at the VLM on Saturday 5th June, sunshine, beautiful surroundings, excellent venue and no wind the whole day, unfortunately the Bise of the previous few days decided not to prevail and by the end of the day there where some immaculately polished boats, fixed boats, modified boats and tanned faces. Sunday dawned clear and warm with an internet (Windfinder) forecast for a light breeze out of the south west, Windfinder has since been removed from my favourite list. We waited on land and then on the water, finally a patchy SE breeze of 3-4 knots arrived and we could start the first of 2 races. The pin end of the line seemed to be the place to be, which was fortunate for Alex and I as we were well above the line when the 5 minute gun went, being closest to the pin end we headed for it and made it with a few seconds to spare. At the top mark it was Sascha, me, Laurent and then André, the second beat saw the front 4 choosing different sides of the course, the wind was shifty and there were going to be winners and loosers at the top mark. Sascha and I chose the right, Laurent the left, the right came good and Sascha again rounded before me, Dieter and André. That is then also how it finished, with Hermann taking fifth position.

Second race, no change in the breeze and no sign of the forecast SW wind. Laurent was first to the top followed by Sascha, Hervé, Hermann and I, the gentle drift downwind did not really allow for any adventurous passing attempts. By the second upwind leg Sascha was ahead followed by Laurent, Hervé, Hermann and I. That was again how it finished and that was the racing for the day. As fate would have it the SW wind filled in about half an hour later and by the time we had the prize giving it was blowing around 15 knots, how nice that would have been a few hours earlier. The Final result was Sascha, myself, Laurent, Hermann and Dieter.

My thanks go to the organisers and regatta committee at VLM, the hospitality was super and the organisation first class, hopefully the Bise will be back for next years regatta.

Looking forward to seeing you all in Garda
Regards
Daniel SUI 208