sailing 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.

SOLARIS YACHTS MESSESTAND BOOT Düsseldorf

BOOT Düsseldorf / Solaris Yachts

6. Februar 2018Alex Beck

Everybody knows the SOLARIS booth at the BOOT Düsseldorf, cause the stand is outstanding since years. Unfortunately I haven´t had the chance to look at it in the last years, but due to a CRO Charter we had contact and I get an invitation to Solaris Sailing Yachts which changed my mind. The SOLARIS Yachts are really stunning. It´s a pity that I´ve never looked at them at the BOOT DüDo. They are in one class with all the SWANs and OYSTERs, just cooler, cause they´re not so obvious. At the end they build in such a quality that they are building carbon hulls also for other yards. The Wally 110 for example was build in the oven of SOLARIS in 2016.

On the first view the yachts are more than attractive. I like the craftmanship and the outstanding modern design. It´s really awesome how the work with the materials in the interior. They do it in a way I just saw at SWAN and Oyster before. By the way did your hear about the liquidation of OYSTER today? Horrible story? Cause of the keel? We don´t know. The keel is no topic for a SOLARIS. The keel is encapsulated by glass fibre and vinylester resin which extends up to the hull bottom and creates structual continuity and a barrier against corrosion of the cast iron.

Design is a key-feature of a SOLARIS. The ultra clean stylish look ist stunning. That´s my way of a clean deck policy. The light interior and a clean modern design with the maximum beam astern, as in the modern ocean racers is unique in that class. Individual owners get on step further and live their detail-love with solar panels aboard and a special electric system aboard, which is kind of freaky, but outstanding. At the end all SOLARIS clients are special, which is standing for that brand and yard. All your dreams do come true aboard a SOLARIS with a perfect finish quality for gentle sailing, or let´s say: SAILING ITALIAN.

One special gimmick is the manner how they get the colour of the hull in a solaris. They have a special way how they bake the hull in their special oven. The found a way that the colour of the hull is resistend again the UV-Light. That´s a USP for an amazing design. I would choose dark-blue, champagen or paint it black.

One more specialty aboard the SOLARIS. They cooperate with ULTRA MARINE. Yeah that´s an anchor. Sounds funny to talk about that point, but honestly, that´s a important part on every yacht and that anchors are more than a tool. They are outstanding. I´ve visited their booth and since that point I know, the anchor ist more than that. No wonder that just SOLARIS works with ULTRA MARINE. That´s a good sign and that really makes sense. The mechanic which SOLARIS uses is to complicated for me. The anchor is hidden at the bow. You have to activate it with the Gennaker halyard. The good point, a SOLARIS is kind of semi-custome-made. For sure you can adjust it at the bow in a traditional way.

All in all the SOALARIS makes your ideas come true. It´s a semi custom yacht which which combines all your creativity with an excellent design by the designer of the yard in a premium quality. In that class of yachts, SOLARIS must be a option to think about.

BOOT Düsseldorf / The Mystery of Anchoring.

31. Januar 201831. Januar 2018Alex Beck

The Ultra Marine Anchor, named ULTRanchor with its revolutionary technology was really new to me. The ULTRAanchor looks quite different to others and it acts different. Manoeuvring is always a special thing and everybody of us had sleeples nights while laying at anchor. The Ultra Marine could be a solution. In my whole sailing life I´ve never thought about the anchor itself; more about the process of anchoring.

By chance I saw the booth of ULTRA MARINE at the fair and I was surprised. Giovanni Canu from ULTRA MARINE explained me the new idea of the anchor. They had a interactive display on which you can test the impact of different anchors. That was impressive and very funny. The anchor is really better than the others. That´s amazing. Have you ever thought about your anchor? Not me.

What´s the mystery with it. The anchor has a special balance. It´s always in the right position. Also when the wind is changing, the Ultra Marine turns into the right position. Above the balance, we have one other differentiator; the wings at the bottom of the anchor. This side wing plates actually help the anchor bury itself deeper when pulled laterally due to a changing wind or tide. They also act to stabilize the anchor horizontally as it penetrates the seabed. There are a view more details which are really awesome. At the end all that creative ideas let the anchor digging deeper. You really can see and feel it when you test ist at the display. That´s really awesome and unbelievable.

In the meantime the have more than 12.000 clients and after I saw that anchor I also recognized it on super yachts like SOLARIS, but that´s another story. Unfortunately I haven´t look at the anchor at any time on a yacht or sailing boat. That Boat Fair in Düsseldorf changed my mindset. In the futur I will have a look at it, for sure.

Media in 2015.

2. Juli 20152. Juli 2015Alex Beck

The current media technic brings sailing much closer into your living room. Fantastic.