Report Swiss Championships in Morges

26 A Cats were entered for the Swiss Championships in Morges at an event that included the Moth, F18HT and M3 classes making for 65 boats in total that took to the water for the first race on Saturday afternoon. The Wind was light and shifty and those who went to the wrong side of the course paid dearly. Right from the start Paolo Penco demonstrated that he was going to be the man to beat with consistency and good decision making. Hervé du Bois started less well, but improved rapidly and his boat speed downwind was demoralising for his opponents.

The weather forecast for Sunday was rainy and cold with approx. 10 knots of wind, what we got was rainy, cold and up to 28 knots of wind, the Lac Leman throws up some big, steep waves with that much breeze and the sailing was wild but fantastic. In the first race I got my upwind trim right off the start and had a comfortable lead ahead of Michi Tobler and Paolo, I held on to that lead till about 10 meters before the finish where I wound up being at the wrong end of a finish line that had shifted through 60° due to the wind and the race went to Paolo. The wind was again very shifty, but the right side of the course seemed to be the preferred way to go, Hervé and Paolo found the right gear for the conditions and were more of less fighting it out between them, Micky Todd was less consistent, but when it went well, it went very well and he too was enjoying the big breeze and waves. Four races in total were sailed with the wind becoming lighter for the last two races.

I personally found the lack of "enthusiasm" for the more challenging conditions disappointing, it is understandable that not every one wants to sail when the conditions go in excess of 20 kts, but the last 2 races on Sunday where in considerably less than that and many who had not damaged equipment or were sick chose to stay ashore. A shining example on Sunday was Katrin Brunner, with her 52 kg she was out there for all four races and did not just survive the conditions, she sailed really well too and won the respect of all there for her courage and skill in high end conditions, well done Katrin! Our newcomer, Peter Rüegsegger showed that he too has a bright future as an A class pilot and is not daunted by wind and waves, well done to you too Peter.

Monday brought more rain, more cold and more shifty breeze, the rain clouds play a big role in the micro wind patterns and were again responsible for many discards on the result sheet. Paolo started the day comfortably ahead of Hervé, but by the end of sailing in tricky conditions on Monday Paolo was sweating and thought that he might have lost it to Hervé, a black flag and a 6th place in the last race made for one hopeful face and one worried face, in the end Paolo took his 3rd Swiss title, only 2 points adrift was Hervé and I was third. Peter Rüegsegger achieved an impressive 4th place and for me the "man(lady) of the match" Katrin Brunner finishing in a superb 5th place.

To the organisers at the VLM a very big thumbs up and thank you for an event well run and well organised, we enjoy coming to your club, we enjoy the hospitality there and hope to see you next year. Also our grateful thanks to Syz & Co for the sponsorship of the event and a super homepage with great pictures and information.

For those that still plan to attend an event or two, I wish you the best of luck. For those who have now ended their season, thank you and see you next year.

Daniel Gut, SUI 208

Results and pictures here:
www.syzic.ch