After a long winter mostly sailing a borrowed boat owing to my brother working some magic on mine it was time to start the season. The Ruhr City Cup is the ideal place to do it. A small crescent-shaped river with some interesting shifts but it makes the sailing fun.
It is always good to see what the German fleet has been up to over the winter and we spent a long time on Friday talking about this due to a complete lack of wind. Sitting in the sun chatting sailing, planning the next couple of years is not a bad way of spending a Friday. It beats sitting in the office.
As Saturday came the wind did as well, some of it anyhow. Five races in one day with a coffee break after 4 lead to a full on day. It’s always nice after the winter to find out how fast the boat is going and pleasantly mine was going fast enough. I had a great battle all day with Heiko Kroger a Paralympic and World Champion. Unfortunately, as you can see from the picture I was on the outside of too many leeward marks going into the finish. We both had to bow to a very fast local Dragon sailor Ben van Cauwenbergh, a Belgium living in Germany sailing under an American sail number.
Sunday the wind had gone 180Â degrees so we weaved our way through the rowers for three last races. I was starting better but in the first couldn’t quite hold onto the inside at the leeward mark and lost to Heiko. Second race I couldn’t find the right shift to save my life but managed to find one that mattered at the top to lead and managed this time to hold it. This lead to the last race winner takes all. Heiko did a very nice job of covering me up the beat, I should have stayed close down the run but didn’t and could only get back to fourth. Every days a school day and we’ll try again.
It is a great little club at WSB Baldeneysee celebrating its 100th year. The race team was once again excellent as local sailor Stefan Giesen brings his team from Kieler Woche. It is the volunteers that make this event from the beer fridge to an immense amount of cake. An event structure that is almost uniqiue to the Ruhr City Cup that everyone should experience once in their life. As Ben wrote in the German report all together nice weather, wind, nice people, three days all you can eat and drink, and fun!! Sums up the weekend perfectly and a great start to the season. Very excited for the months ahead.
As the season closed in Antwerp last weekend it gave me a chance to look back at what an incredible year it has been in the 2.4mR.
I’ve had some amazing tight finishes to events this year with the Nationals in Poole, Frensham open, Dutch Nationals and the German Nationals all coming down to the wire. It was great to attend the UK Nationals, after so many years of missing it for one reason or another, and having it as part of the Poole Keelboat regatta is always a lot of fun. As was competing in Carrickfergus at the Irish Nationals. A great piece of water with the Irish hospitality that we all come to expect and love. Fortunately, I took the win at all 5!
The one that didn’t go down to the wire was the Worlds in Sweden. I was never sure how this one was going to go as I hadn’t been on open water in a big competition for a long time. Racing in Gavle in the past has been a bit hit or miss over my sailing carer, however, I love going back to big race courses and 75-minute races. The start of the event was great, scoring all top 5 results. the second half of the event, however, didn’t go to plan with my worst results coming in the last 2 races. Overall I was very happy finishing 2nd and a long way from third but there’s more work to go in order to get back to the top spot next year in Genoa.
Probably the biggest test this year was at the German Championships in Berlin. 48 boats entered into what turned out to be a very shifty and mostly light venue. We started with an exhibition knock out race which challenged me because I kept forgetting how to match race but it was a lot of fun. The real racing was even more challenging with a very high scoring regatta. Especially Saturday where the water was packed with every leisure craft and river cruise boats going. Most deciding that coming right through the middle of the course was a good idea. I was leading going into Sunday but a few mistakes made throughout the day meant I had to settle for second. Happy on reflection that in the light and shifty that I had managed to score well and consistent for most of the regatta.
Finally, we end in Antwerp, as always, on the Galgenweel. Antwerp is a great little city, with a lot of history, and is a nice place to hang out for a long weekend with friends celebrating the end of the season. Sailing as always on a small lake was tight and Ulli Libor and Dirk Jan Broertjes were going fast. In a long series of 13 races, it seems a long time to keep concentration over the 4 days. Saturday was fully wacky racing with more fluky conditions however, i performed well and managed to win for the 7th year in a row. Coming away with 7 from 7 makes a great culmination to my year.
It’s now back to work for the busy Christmas rush and a nice bit of casual club racing!
Megan Pascoe at the Irish Nationals
After a good few years building up their fleet Carrickfergus Sailing Club decided it was time to host an Irish 2.4mR National Championship. Seventeen boats made the trip from far and wide across the Irish Sea, from North and South, and even Germany. Special mention to George and Ann Taylor for organising and making everything happen.
It was so nice to get back on open water and Belfast Loch didn’t disappoint with the weather. After a rather complicated briefing which included disappearing marks the fleet left the dock in bright sunshine and a nice 9 to 13 knots. Everyone settled into the tidal conditions of the first race with most heading up the shore. Local John Patrick mixing it up from the first mark with the old hands of Ulli Libor, Steve Bullmore and Megan Pascoe. Megan and Ulli escaped from the fleet with Kate Hedley reeling in Steve. These two spent the next few races stuck together at the finish even with a tie in the last race.
The fleet was tight for the following two races with Nev Millard joining the party with 2 second places. Adam Billany back in the boat after his A levels ended the day with a 3rd.
The fleet retired to the club for the evening with a great meal and spectacular view. Sunday despite a light forecast the fleet woke to a 12 knot Northerly. It was great to see quite a few sailors under the age of 20 and a mix of able bodied and disabled.
The Irish fleet has some new sailors in the fleet. Especially great to see Kevin Conway in his pretty blue boat which was getting faster and faster as the weekend went on.
Sunday decided the prizes. Ulli and Nev were battling it out with few points to split them in the shifty conditions. There was little gap from the front of the fleet to the back with everyone having really good racing.
The weekend ended with a barbecue on the club lawn and prizes. Megan won the event, Ulli held onto 2nd and Nev picked up his first major podium in 3rd. John Patrick won the Irish National trophy in 7th. Georgina Griffin was first Irish disabled in a hotly contested battle. Gina is also off to compete for Ireland at the Disabled World Championships later in the year.
The fleet had a great time at Carrickfergus SC, true Irish hospitality and a perfect piece of sailing water. Thanks to everyone who volunteered for the event, definitely one of the best venues I’ve been to in a long time. Now with the inauguration of an Irish class association 2019 Nationals look like being held in Kinsale.
Overall Results:
Pos
Sail No
Helm
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
Pts
1st
GBR 163
Megan Pascoe
‑1
1
1
1
1
1
5
2nd
GER 6
Ulli Libor
2
3
‑4
2
3
2
12
3rd
GBR 144
Nev Millard
‑7
2
2
4
2
3
13
4th
GBR 143
Kate Hedley
3
‑5
5
3
5
4.5
20.5
5th
GBR 159
Steve Bullmore
4
4
‑6
5
4
4.5
21.5
6th
GBR 155
Adam Bilany
5
‑7
3
6
7
6
27
7th
GBR 121
John Patrick
6
‑8
7
7
8
8
36
8th
GBR 161
Jonny Barker
10
6
10
‑13
6
7
39
9th
SWE 315
Kevin Conway
8
10
9
8
9
‑13
44
10th
IRL 906
Georgina Griffin
‑14
13
8
10
12
11
54
11th
IRL 906
Judy Moynihan
9
‑15
14
9
13
9
54
12th
GBR 30
Garry Crothers
‑13
12
12
11
10
10
55
13th
GBR 137
Kerry Mussen
15
9
13
12
14
(DNS)
63
14th
IRL 601
Patrick Hassett
12
14
‑15
14
11
12
63
15th
GBR 54
Jonny Harvey
11
11
11
(DNC)
DNC
DNC
69
16th
GBR 695
Sean McCullagh
‑17
16
16
15
15
14
76
17th
IRL 1
Shane Barker
16
‑17
17
16
16
15
80
Megan Pascoe – National Champ!
I turned up on the bank holiday Friday, after a long journey to Poole Yacht Club, for the UK 2.4 Nationals as part of the International Paints Poole Keelboat Regatta. After a bit of rigging and the odd beer, it was time for bed as we had an early 9 am start on Saturday.
The big breeze that we expected wasn’t quite as strong as forecast but we still left the shore in 15 knots. With the best the British and a few German’s could offer in terms of 2.4 sailors it was going to be a tough event and it certainly turned into really good racing. As Saturday continued the breeze was dropping steadily. I started the regatta with some really good races; 3 bullets but not by much. As we started the racing early it then meant it was a nice afternoon on the balcony of Poole Yacht Club.
Sunday morning saw a nice 8 knots and a slight delay while we waited for more wind. Once we got out on the water it soon became apparent that the windward mark was under Brownsea Island; it was a tricky day out. I started ok but struggled to find the best way around the course. Jonny Currell was having a much better day and after finishing the last race in just enough water we were equal points going into the last day.
Sunday night was at the newly built Parkstone yacht club, where I kept getting lost. Monday morning was very light and after lots of floating in no wind racing was postponed and so we went in for an hour. Coming back out the wind had built to 5 knots and looked to be building. I luckily got off the right end of the fleet and with Jonny struggling to get away cleanly I managed to secure a win, give me the title!
It’s nice to get the title back, due to other events taking my time over the years and not giving me the chance to compete for it. It’s never easy to win and it’s great to have really good competition. It makes you hungry for more. We’ve been coming to Poole Keelboat Regatta for many years and it is great that we keep getting invited back amongst some very big boats.
Next on the agenda is my home event, Frensham, in a couple of weeks time.Â
Megan Pascoe – Write up from Ruhr City Cup
You get a suggestion from time to time about an event to attend. Essen was one of them. Few turn out to be as good as people suggest but Essen didn’t disappoint. The warmth from the hosts WSB 1919 on the Baldeneysee made up for packing the boats up in freezing temperatures in Frensham and turning up on Thursday to a wet murky Germany. 4 British boats, 2 Dutch and 1 Belgium joined a tough German fleet. A relaxed start time on Thursday allowed me to change my mainsheet block to the new Allen 45mm AutoRatchet and after tuning run with one of the Dutch, I re-rigged it to make the ratchet work the right way.
Wind Shifts, pressure patches and current were sailed to a tune of a music concert. The Brits were off to a good start with Steve Bullmore winning the first race, I was in second and Brian Harding 13th. Keith Gordon had to repair his boat in the morning but was racing by the 2nd race of the day. This race was no less shifty than the first and with a downwind against the current made these legs especially tricky. Steve managed to find a couple of holes which left him 6th. It was a close battle with the top 6 and somehow I found a good shift on the second beat to allow myself a little bit of breathing space downwind to finish 1st. It was becoming apparent that on these waters you could change your fortunes in a second, both in a good and bad way and it definitely wasn’t over until the end. The third race saw the music getting worse as did my starting ability. Up the 1st beat, all the Brits were hovering around mid fleet together. Jan Ten Hoeve was leading down the run but then the Dragon sailors of Ulli Libor and Ben van Cauwenbergh came through on both sides of the run. Ulli kept his lead till the end of the race with Jan holding off Ben to get 2nd. The Brits meanwhile weren’t having our best races but we all brought our places back to something respectable in the end. The fleet retired to the bar for beer, food and talking about the season ahead.
We woke the next morning to wind above the water but no visible wind on the water. It was also in the opposite direction to Friday. The fleet prepared not knowing who would get which shift in the day. The fire brigade were on the far shore with a water display, thankfully much quieter than the music. Eberhard Bieberitz made the early running in a massive left shift with the next 8 boats fighting close together. Biebe was becalmed at the bottom of the run which allowed the fleet to catch up. Jan took over the lead heading left as did three more of us. Three others including Steve and Ulli went right. About halfway up the sides came back together and the 90 degrees right shift changed everyone onto a reach. Steve, although the furthest right boat couldn’t capitalise on it due to a lack of pressure, slipped to 11th overall. Down the final run, I managed to hold off Ulli and Holger Humborg to finish second to Jan. After a long wait for wind and Hanns Hermann being rescued after falling out of his boat, we tried for one more race. The first beat was ok but as we beat down the second half of the run it was abandoned and we went in to enjoy the sunshine and waffles. Later the wind filled in further up the lake so off we went again. After a postponed start and a general recalled start the fleet was off although only those at the port end because the starboard end had no wind. After the 1st beat four of us had got away and I managed to pass Ben to win in what became a very light wind race.
After racing the German’s were running their Triple Match series that they run at every open. 4 heats of very short racing culminating in a final from the winners, with the first 2 going through to the grand finals later in the year in Berlin. Steve and I took part. I managed to win my heat, as did Ulli. Steve, unfortunately, lost to Biebe and the final heat was won by the Dutchman Dirk Jan Broertjes. It was too light winds for the finals so it was decided to run it in the morning. Much discussion took place that night over whether your phone would update the time automatically. There was no rush on that front anyway as Sunday brought no wind so after a short AP the fleet packed up for the prize giving. It was a nice start to the season and we are looking forward to our Queen Mary Open in April. I finished 1st, Steve 4th, Brian 14th, Keith 21st.
