Friday, July 8, 2016

SV Kreuzlingen Leads Swiss J/70 Sailing League II

J/70 women sailors (Romanshorn, Switzerland)- This past weekend, the Swiss Sailing 2nd League of twelve teams were competing in Romanshorn for the hope to qualify for the Swiss Super League.  The top three teams after the first regatta (Seglervereinigung Kreuzlingen 1st, Seglervereinigung Bottighofen 2nd, Bordée de Tribord 3rd) were hoping to maintain their position, if not improve upon them by the end of the weekend sailing on beautiful Lake Constance.  Throwing a monkey wrench into the proceedings was the fact that the weather forecast for the weekend was mixed- good winds but the possibility for thunder showers!  In the end, the shifty winds and nervousness of some teams to maintain good pace got some into trouble and others onto the podium!

The first day of racing brought about a wilder, more variable weather pattern than what anyone predicted.  In the morning, it was blowing lightly from the southeast.   However, the wind was not enough to get the first race in.  Then, the breeze died and refilled from the ENE and permitted the fleet to sail five races.  The light wind specialists for each team were asked to sail the J/70s and trim the sails with feeling. The Yacht Club Luzern achieved this best and was leading by early afternoon.  Then, the wind shifted still further north and freshened considerably.  The frontal system that was predicted to move through the region all of a sudden materialized over the mountain peaks.  All around Lake Constance, afternoon thunderstorms developed and the storm front went from Säntis eastward across Lake Constance.  After the storm front had passed, there was a beautiful evening southerly breeze that enable the final rounds to be completed for the day.

Swiss J/70 winnersAfter a botched first race, the SV Kreuzlingen team strung together straight firsts to be leading after a total of 13 races sailed. Segel-Club Enge was in second place and just two points further back was YC Luzern.  Sitting in fourth place was the all women crew from SV Thalwil- they were smart, light and fast!

After a long day of sailing, all participants- sailors and volunteers- enjoyed some refreshingly cold beers and a barbecue at the Festhalle.

On Sunday morning, a cool northwest wind started out nicely, but gradually blew itself out by midday.  The first races were won by YC Luzern and Zurcher YC and the girls on the SV Thalwil team were also up to the task, posting another second place.  The Segelclub Romanshorn’s PRO tried in vain to get another race started, but ultimately had to send everyone back to shore with just 14 races completed.

As a result, SV Kreuzlingen won the second round of the Swiss Sailing 2nd League, winning a tie-breaker on 14.67 pts each over Segelclub Enge.  Third was YC Luzern, fourth the women’s crew from SV Thalwil and fifth Zurcher YC.  That outcome meant a wholesale changeover in the overall series leaderboard for most of the fleet!  While SV Kreuzlingen had now won two events in a row, Segelclub Mannedorf and SV Thalwil are tied for second with identical records of 4-6 each.  Fourth overall is Bordee de Tribord with a 3-8 tally and fifth is Segelclub Enge with a 10-2 record.  More excitement soon for these dozen teams dueling it out on gorgeous Swiss lakes up high in the Alps!  For more Swiss Sailing 2nd League information