farr40 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.

Heading Ballermann

1. Dezember 20181. Dezember 2018Alex Beck

Segeln im November ist meistens eine jämmerliche Geschichte. Diese Erfahrung machte ich selbst vor Jahren und mir wurde damals klar, nie wieder im November. OK, das war an der Ostsee und das ist selbst im August nicht meine Welt. Aktuell ging es aber darum Sascha Jäger´s SAYONARA LIGHT von Barcelona / Roda de Bara zur Mallorca Winterseries zu bekommen. Ein Nachttörn, easy 160 Grad Down Reach und gut.

Mein Wille war da, November kickte mich aber null, zeitlich war es nicht machbar, also sagte ich zu. Fly-in und GO. Auch nicht clever, aber egal. So kam ich also im Regen in BCN an und Nahuel von der Marina packte mich am Airport ein und wir fuhren in die Marina und da lag die Sayonara auch schon. Wie immer wirken so startklare Yachten in einem sehr tristen Novemberhafen irgendwie fehlplatziert. Zum Nachdenken blieb aber eh keine Zeit.

Zack, zack gingen wir noch viel zu viel einkaufen. Fand ich aber gut, denn mit dem Wetter war ich mir immer noch nicht sicher und wenn es dumm läuft und der Wind uns entgegen kommt, dann sind wir vielleicht auch noch am SO unterwegs. Ja, ich war der Kritiker. Jäger Senior und il Capitano Sascha waren überzeugt, dass es easy wird. Wurde es dann tatsächlich auch.

Schwierigkeiten machte nur Motor, bzw. der Kühlalarm direkt bein Auslaufen. Nach dem Essen bei SARGANTANA was natürlich wieder viel mehr Zeit und Bier verschlungen hat wie geplant liefen wir auch erst zum Sundowner aus. Leider piepste der Kühlalarm dann auch schon durchgehend. Was tun? Motor lief nicht heiß, Kühlwasser spritzt? What would you do? Wir haben uns nach weiteren 10min entschieden umzudrehen. Doof wenn dann da draußen der Mist kocht, oder morgen auf Malle. Also alles wieder zurück und la maquinista in den Hafen beordert. Immerhin hatten die den Motor bis am Tag zuvor gecheckt. Ergebnis; der Geber hat einen Schlag. Gut, dass checkten wir auch schon und los.

Zwischenzeitlich war es auch schon gut dunkel, wobei wir Vollmond hatten, das erhellte die ganze Geschichte. Wir hielten Kurs 160 Grad mit Wind aus NW. Zu Beginn hatten wir 10kn Windspeed der dann in der Nacht auf 15kn auffrischte, aber sehr konstant geblieben ist. Seegang war bewegt aber wir blieben trocken, kaum Spray.

Die Wache hatten wir klassisch geplant, aber kurz nach dem Start intuitiv verworfen. Es lief irgendwie Hand in Hand, easy. Jeder macht solange er wollte. Ich selbst liebe die Nacht, gerne auch alleine an Deck. Das weckt den König Ludwig in mir, große Melancholie, der Blick auf den Kompass, den Mond als Begleiter, der in einer Nacht das Schiff umrundet.

Gegen 0600 UTC konnten wir am Horizont auch schon die Umrisse von Mallorca erkennen. Es ist immer wieder ein erhebendes Gefühl, wenn hinter Dir die Landmasse verschwindet. Magisch der Moment, wenn nichts mehr um Dich ist und irgendwann vor die das nächste Ziel erscheint.

Außerdem ist dann auch schon wieder der Moment für das erste „Land in Sicht“ Bier. In der Früh wurde der Wind dann sehr schwach. Gegen 0900 UTC waren wir dann auch alle wieder an Deck. Der Weg bis Palma hat sich aber ewig hingezogen. Um die Zeit zu verkürzen gönnten wir uns dann pro Kap und Leuchtturm ein kleines San Miguel.

Das Einlaufen in Palma im Real Club Nautico Palma (RCNP) erweckt zwischenzeitlich schon heimatliche Gefühl. Zumal wir auch wieder einen Liegeplatz am Main Dock hatten. Yeah. Zack, zack machten wir die Sayonara Light klar. Deck schrubben, aufräumen und Kielbolzen nachziehen. Naaaaa, das war leider nicht möglich, das muss aber passieren. Nach Monaten ist nun endlich klar, wo die FARR40 Wasser zieht. Genau dort. Gut, dass dieses Wasser Mysterium nun endlich gelüftet wurde.

Nach dem Duschen fühlten wir uns auch wieder als Menschen. Hungrig zogen wir in unser Grill-Restaurant und waren dann bettschwer. Nun einfach zu schlafen wäre aber zu bequem. Der Trip hieß ja nicht aus Spaß #HeadingBallermann. Also rein in´s Taxi und noch auf einen Drink in den Bierkönig. Muss sein. No Mercy. Tatsächlich war mehr los als erwartet. Die Saison ist ja richtig vorbei, aber da geht eben immer was. Gepflegt ging es in die Koje und am SO zackig raus an Airport und wieder eine Erfahrung reicher. Die Sayonara Light ist ein Wochenende später auch schon wieder besetzt und rennt schon wieder um die Wette bei der Mallorca Winterseries.

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.