2005 Europeons

Report by  Mark Mendelblatt

I apologize for being so late with the report for the 2005 Star Europeans.  I've just returned from a long European trip, coming straight from St. Moritz Switzerland, and coaching at the 470 Worlds in San Fran to give you this account.  I know that the NA's have just
finished, and my congratulations go to George Szabo and Eric Monroe.  It may be a coincidence, but both these guys were over in Varberg, Sweden freezing it out with the rest of us.

The regatta was held from August 6-12th.  A proper measurement was conducted, with the fleet having to take down the mast and weigh the boats, measure tip weight of masts, measure boom and poles, sails and finally crew weight.  Strube and I were a bit concerned with our weigh in chances, so I went on a diet.  Luckily we made it due to my hard work, and Strube staying exactly where he always was.  Reweighs were a possibility according to the SI's, so we had to be a little careful during the week. Actually they weighed us again after the first day's racing and we were even lighter.  Usually we lose weight during the course of a regatta anyway.

As we had not yet tested the waters.  Strube and I finished off the job of rigging our boat, which Mark Reynolds had been kind enough to let us use.  Our first sailing day was the 7th, and practice race day.  Nothing to report other than that the practice race got called off onshore due to nearby Tstorms and general lack of breeze.  We at least sailed for about 2 hours and put a little time on our new Z4, flown in By Szabo himself.  All Reynold's settings were working well, and we seemed to be going just fine, so didn't touch a thing.

First day started out medium around 9-12 knots, but died off gradually.  As it turned out, our first race was our best one.  After an absolutely horrible start, my worst in probably the last 5 years, we somehow had a huge comeback and won the race.  I still don't know what happened, but basically we sailed up the middle on each leg, and managed to stay in phase.  On the last beat, we started third, with Rohart in the lead protecting the right, Freddy in second working left and us between.  We had some great speed in the 10-12 range with Strube just over the side, and got a couple nice long shifts going our way and got through.  It was really a great feeling to win that one, especially considering our start, and a nice start to the 6 race series.

The next race was just the opposite.  Great start, but OCS.  We had a long first beat in almost drifter conditions, and got to the top in about 7th only to see our number posted on the board.  What's worse is that we were the only one's!  It's strange how we were the only boat called, but that's life.  I've been having a little problem with OCS's since I joined the Star class.  In the Laser, I averaged about 1 per year, but in the Star, I had one at the Miami OCR, one in Bacardi, and now a third in the Europeans. When you're racing a 2 throwout series on short courses, it's one thing, but in a 6 race regatta with 2 1/2 hour races, there's really no excuse. Anyway, that's something for me to work on in the coming season.

After opening with a 1, OCS on the first day, we needed two solid scores to get us back into contention.  The 9th, was the second race day and the wind was up, and so were the seas.  The conditions reminded me of the Springs at Nassau this year.  Only it was freezing cold and raining!  This trend would continue throughout the rest of the regatta, including the packing up process and prize giving dinner.  2 long ones in 16-20 knots got everyone tired out and really looking forward to the rest day.  In the first race, Percy jumped right out in front off the line, and never looked back.  Stretching his lead during the race, the rest of us were left to battle
it out.  We had a tight race with the Polish (Matausz the finn sailor with a gold and bronze) and Spitzhauer.  After Matausz got flagged and had to do a 720, and we had a good run, we locked up the 2nd on the last beat. Downwind at this place was really great with some big rides.  The second race of the day was an Olympic course (0), and the wind and waves had continued to build.  This was one of the really fun races of the series for us.  We started poorly and got caught out left with the right side paying on the first beat.  Rounded the top mark around 30th, and had two great reaches, getting back to around 20th by the bottom.  I've found that on the heavy air reaches, you should just sail the boat hot without the pole
until you're comfortable you can set the pole.  Then bear away, set the pole and you'll be powered up with the pole out on a lower angle.  We did this on both reaches, and because Strube is so quick with the pole, we made out big.  We sailed a good beat to get back into the top 15, then passed a few more on the last 2 legs to wind up 9th.

A well deserved rest day was had by all, and it was a relief to know we only had to sail one race per day for the remaining 2 days of the regatta.

Race 5 saw the Brits Percy and Mitchell clinch victory in the championship. Their 6th or so was good enough for them to be able to sit out the last race.  While race 5 was our worst finish of the series, it was probably our best comeback of the series.  We came from almost last at the first mark to finish in the teens, and keep our chances of a decent regatta finish alive. Before heading out on the last day, I made a stupid decision to put on our heavy air main, and with no time to change, we started race 6 in about 7 or 8 knots and a lot of lump.  Needless to say, we were really slow!  But because we were so slow and couldn't go where I wanted to, we got sent the
right way and rounded 4th.  In a steadily building breeze, our speed was on the up throughout the race and we ground back to 2nd at the finish.  Also I learned a very important lesson about which main to put up.  If you're not sure, and especially if your sailing with Strube, put on the Z-4 (we were using Quantums at the Europeans).

So we finished the Championship just off the podium in 4th.  Actually I'm getting a lot of 4th's in the star class.  4th at Levin (I think), 4th at Miami OCR, 4th in the Spring's warmup series and in the Spring's themselves, and now 4th in the Europeans.  We will try to notch it up a few in the next one.