The fleet of Death

4 fleets …randomly drawn…. I got red fleet…along with 3 olympians , 2 x worlds champions,a european champion …and and and (Rafa , Maeier, Christoph Berger, Thomas Schmidt etc)….fark talk about the pool of death. on Alpha course off Torbole. 14-16 knots for both races. cold as well so tough beats . both starts i had dickheads surf the line and land on me..still managed ok starts. short of speed upwind against the top 6 in the first race but better in the 2nd. the fantastica takes some getting used to upwind .. pinched too much in the first race and freed up in the 2nd with much better speed at times. 14th and 12th to be 37th overall..hard when its 4 fleets. probie was in my fleet and appears to have good speed. Gary Lokum had a great day and is 28th overall- good fleet for him.

big big hike fest today and tomorrow is expected to be the same…must hike harder and push harder downwind.

in the green fleet 2 miles up the lake tomorrow and it looks like the fleets are more balanced thank christ.

we found a indian restaurant tonight….so over pasta… think the curry’s gone straight through Probie by the sound of it….!

sleep time and then up for some study …that wasnt in the brochure

btw launching and retrieving your boat on these ramps with wind , wave a 5 meter drop off is a flying cluster fuck

Game Day

Cool clear morning in Garda – light Northerly currently . All the wind models contradict each other . Predict wind is useless . Racing starts at 1pm … Gut feel is it will be like practice day – race 1 10-12 and ramp up to 15 for race 2 .

Tempted to start on light ned sail and change out for race 2 .

Should be great !

Training Day Part 2

Good to get a days training in – hiking breeze all day so broke the legs in and after a lot of travel they needed it . Great to see the kiwi team out training with Ed . The team t shirts stand out !

Not excited with my speed and will reset the leech tension as was too tight today . Also changing out the mast as not quite stiff enough I feel . The fantastica is a different boat to sail but the rig must feel good which it doesn’t yet .

The wind is really shifty off the cliffs – bravo course on the Riva side would be good to be allocated to . Alpha not so much .

Probie is going quick which is great to see

350 boats so 4 fleets of around 90 boats – not toooo bad but the ramps are a shit fight … Steep drop off into deep water …

Good feed of pasta on board and early night for the boys … Race day tomorrow

Training Day

Day has dawned clear with a light to moderate northerly or Peeler as its know here . Probie and I have bikes and it was a stunning ride to the club along the water front .
Meeting all the boys with Ed at 930 for a chat then feet wet at 10 for a hour or so . Briefing at 12 and then practice race at 3pm. It is supposed to rain this arvo so that race is unlikely .
Suitable ready to go now – the fantastica is a a hard sail in the light stuff so need to practice that today if the opportunity arises.

Bit of boat maintenance then it’s all systems go …. After a coffee of course

Son of Marksman Nearly Finished

Rather than go to Garda I decided to build a new OK Dinghy. An upgrade from the Marksman.

Nearly finished. Still on track to sail it at the Brass Monkey Regatta in Napier over Queens Birthday weekend.

For anyone doubting how much you can change a one design boat have a look at the stern profile of The Marksman against the new boat.

Just delivered The Marksman to it’s new owner today so need to get the boat finished ASAP>

Dave (The boat with no name)

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first coffee

Probie had arrived and we are awaiting our boats . It’s been raining in Garda for the last few days and when it rains here … No wind !!! The forecast looks iffy for the next few days … But it’s dawned fine so far … Fingers crossed !!!
Been a hell of a trip through Turkey to get here but now the fun starts !!!

Garda is as stunning as ever … But it’s a real tourist town and the prices have gone up … Enzo has gone … Replaced by some fkwit who has mtv playing …. Sigh

Karlo and davio … It’s not the same….

A New Team Member Joins the Fold

If you’ve read Ray’s blog post you’ll know he has teamed up with Gerard Lelieveld to attend the 2016 Finn World Masters at Lake Garda in Italy. Gerard has been sailing a Finn for the last 2 years having previously sailed other classes and has taken to it with a passion.

After initially purchasing 227 he quickly upgraded to a Devoti and has been steadily improving since. Most recently he sailed in the Finn Gold Cup at Takapuna and has now decided to spread his wings further and attend the Finn World Masters in Garda. 350 boats will be a different experience again.

You’ll see Gerard posting on this site as well.

Dave (The Marksman)