CLUBSWAN Archive - Hightide

PalmaVela 2019 – the 2nd Mission.

26. Mai 201927. Mai 2019Alex Beck

HighTide is back on Mallorca. We entered the 2nd time the starting line at the Sail Racing Palmavela. That year we had a much better boat with the Farr40 of the Sayonara Yacht Squadron. Unfortunately that race is not our league in competiting, but at the end it´s a great surrounding on Mallorca and we always feel like home beeing a guest at the Real Club Nautico Palma.

We always start with 3 trainings days in the bay of Palma. That´s neccessary cause a few of the crew are always new and we have to look at our skills. The races are on Friday and Saturday, two races a day. Quite the normal up and down. Last not least there´s on coastal cruise on Sunday for the final.

The key at a race like that is the fun factor, especially when you´re not sailing on a TP52, or ClubSwan50. It´s really amazing what you can see there. There´s a battle of material you can not imagine. I think there is no other sport which has so many adjusting screws as in sailing. There is the complex weather System, the high-tec boat which you have to handle and at least you need a crew and a lot of training.

Our training days were quite good. Everybody finds his position aboard and the handling of the boat get´s better from day to day. At our first PalmaVela participation we have been a lot at the Ballerman in el Arenal. But that time our Crew Manager, Tactician and best man didn´t allow us to be part of the partyscene. He had his reasons for that and he was right. Training and racing a whole week is quite stressful. You day begins at 0730. We start in on of the stylish majorcan breakfast bars and walk into the harbour to the Real Club Nautico, where SAYONARA LIGHT is based. There we have to do a lot at the boat. Trimming and repairing, checking the forecast, whatever. Time is always running fast there and we had to go out to the starting line. That´s also quite a long way and it is not easy to find the right slot for your Race. In our case it was ORC1. There is always a confusion with the 5min signal etc.

At the 1st Race Day we had perfect conditions. Unfortunately the wind gets down in the 2nd race and it was aborted in the last leg and just there we had a good position at least. That´s a pity, but that is sailing.

At the 2nd Race day no Wind was expected. The 1st race on saturday was realised under good conditions and than, the wind was gone. We´re waiting in the bay of Palma and the expectations was zero. However Oliver Ochse was supposed that there will be wind again. We were laughing and hanging around on the boat. He said it will be back at 0330 with 17kn. I couldn´t belive it, but exactly at 0330 the wind was coming, quite strong and we startet the race. We came quite fast up and after the windward mark we had two boats behind us an I just saw how their gennaker explodes. That was . . . what should I say. At that time we had more than 25kn of windspeed and the boat was running down with 16kn. In words, sixteen?! We´re talking about a Farr40 which is not state of the art, but a good lady with skills.

The rush was going on and in the meantime my position was not anymore as always. At that point I was standing behind Sascha, the owner and helmsman of the boat. We were really surfing the waves and it feels safe. So far for the moment, but as you know; in love and at sea you are never safe. BÄMM, there ist was. You know it from all the YouTube Videos. The broach. It was anwesome and as always. Everything is under controll and within that rush a we had a gust additional to the wind and the boat gets out of hand. At that moment everything was in slo-mo. Sayonara gets on its side, I looked at the boom which was high above me, the wind gets out of the main an the boom runs on the other side which is really impressive and was braked on the other side in the water. Puuh. At least we were still in race mode and we found ourselves and go on. Unfortunately just a few minutes later the gennaker halyyard breakes with a brute force. That was the second Puuh, but it was not a long way to the finishing line and we had enough for today. The wind had a maximum at that day of 28kn. We felt it. On our way back to the RCNP with just a the main we had 10kn on the log.

Every evening we had a delicious dinner at one of the Majorcan Tapas Bars. Just cause of dining Mallorca is an answer. It is so tasty and stylish in the old town of Palma. Unfortunately the end was near, Sunday was coming. Our last race day. Traditionally the last race is always a coastal race, which I like very much. The thousands ups and downs are getting boring. Therefore a kind of a cruise is quite cool along the coast of Mallorca.

All in all our second Palmavela Mission was a adventure for all of us. We get a lot of experience. We had a perfect mood and a very good crew. Always again. Stay tuned.

Copa Del Rey – sailing between the king and the world league.

13. August 201814. August 2018Alex Beck

Copa Del Rey is one of the most prestigious regattas in the Mediterranean yachting calendar. A Pinnacle event in sailing year by year in the bay of Palma, Mallorca.

It sounds quite cool when Sascha asked me if I want to be part of his „Sayonar Light Race Team“ for the Copa del Rey in 2018. That sounds great to me and with my experience from the Palmavela last year I said yep, for sure. Especially cause Sascha knows how to handle boats, races and a crew of soldiers of fortune.

The main actors of the regatta are the beautiful Island of Mallorca, his Majesty King Felipe VI, an nearly 200 boats and their amazing owners and crews. Some of them you will know from the FORBES list, but´s that´s another story.

It all began and how could it be otherwise at the „Ballermann“ in El Arenal. There we pick up of the first crew member. As expected he was still in another galaxy, which was quite good, cause that´s the reason why he is still alive. You know, drunk people always have a guardian angel. But more about this later on.

In El Arenal we get on the boat to bring it to Palma. Unfortunately we stopped after 2min very unsoft, cause we grounded in the marina. That was a pity but with our draught of 2,60m not so abnormal. Max, remember our first crew member, wasn´t fast enough to absorb the sudden stop. Perhaps he was still absorbed by the Ballermann Experienced. He had really big luck. Max stands in the middle of the cockpit and made a backflip down the gangway, where he landed on his head. The muscle relaxant of drunk people is really outstanding. After that shock and unnecessary first experience we started with a drink an get the boat to Real Club Nautico Palma.

The upcoming race days were quite similar day by day. In total it was physically quite hard. We get up in our stunning city loft in palma, had breakfast at about 09 am. After that delicious part we prepared the boat, looked around in the yacht club an we enjoyed the feeling there, which is amazing.

Our tacticians get their infos in the briefing and we went out to the starting line. Don´t underestimate the time you need to be at that point. It needs at least an hour.

We were registrated in ORC 1 and most of the time we had a few other starting groups before us. That was cool, cause we can see the start of the ClubSwan50, or the Maxi Racers, which is really stunning. The sound of the winches ist awesome when they get on course. It sounds like the buzz of a dinosaur.

The course itself was classic, up and down, two rounds and two races a day. Above that there is one long distance race. In total we had eleven races. The windspeed were about 8 to 13kn every day and 37° everyday. Perfect conditions. Don´t forget to drink enough. I don´t know how many litres water we drunk at sea. Enough I think and the funny thing, in that conditions you don´t have to pee the whole day. It is so hot and you will transpire everything.

Within the regatta I often pinched myself. Is it really me, racing between King Felipe VI and the enormous maxi yachts like MOMO or Protheus. Above you will see there the leading champs steering the TP52, the GC32, or the Club Swan fleets. At the end we were not compatible against all that pros with their unbelievable machines. Don´t be the last in our class, was our task. At least we get that in every leg. Just in the last race we had a difficulties at the windward mark. We hoist the gennaker, it gets twisted and we had to jibe. It don´t came over and it was catched by a damaged sail batten in the jib and in a second the whole gennaker was split into two pieces. The only thing which we could do was a call to the race control; Sayonar Light 47 is retired. That was really a sad moment.

The whole week was a stunning experience in a awesome setting. Above that it was quite cool to get on track with the pros. With just one day of training and not with our material we had great results, an outstanding team spirit and a wonderful time on that beautiful island of Mallorca.

BOOT Düsseldorf 2017 / CLUBSWAN 50

25. Januar 201725. Januar 2017Alex Beck

In 2016 SWAN celebrated its 50th anniversary. For that reason the Fins launched a outstanding yacht; the ClubSwan50. The 4th one-design-class in the history of Natur´s Swan.

The yacht is a revolution in pure and powerful sailing without loosing the pleasure in style. This boat is a hell of a yacht. Powerfull enough for an ambitious crew and a dynamic performance cruiser for a easy crew of two.

When I came on the Swan booth at the BOOT I was impressed by the yacht. You approach the ClubSwan50 from an angle and your eyes get lost at this massive keel. Your pulse get´s higher and than you will recognize the wavepiercer bow and the fat stern with the double rudder. Each of them has markes at the end like a samurai sword. It´s all for the hydrodynamic and it is a pity that you cannot see it all the time.

The Rigg is very modern and inspired by the VOR65 Racers. The mast is quite in the middle of the boat with an extreme rake to the back. In combination with the boom, which is longer than the end of the yacht it is spectacular. It´s a kind of a PS4 optic. You know that design from rc yachts. I like that, it´s so excessive and WOW.

The deck is huge and clean. Everything is at its place and reduced to the max. It´s all a question of the weight. You see that also in the cabin. It´s not the typical look of a swan, but you feel the Swan DNA. It´s all about weight. There are everywhere options to reduce more. In the inside there are also a few options which you can choose. E.g. the galley could be placed in the front. Whatever you like.

At the end it is a real beauty and state of the art in yacht engineering. A kind of little TP52 which can also be sailed by a sporty family. The only weakness for me is the low freeboard with that open stern. Both looks great and sexy, but I cannot imagine that this combination is helpful for a amateur crew in heavy weather. From my point of view a Swan must always be ready for the ocean.