On Thursday 23rd August Robert and I set off from Tunbridge Wells at 5am to drive down to Italy to take part in the Europeans. Sally and Mary decided to fly down and let us meet them at Verona airport as they didn’t fancy the long drive down with the boat on the back. Probably more likely, they didn’t fancy 18 hours of listening to Robert and myself talking sailing!! We duly arrived at Lake Garda at 2.30 Friday morning and the bottle of wine we had sat by the lake was most welcome.
Come Friday morning Robert and I were rigging the boat at the club and we got ‘volunteered’ to go sailing in another regatta in a team sailing a Longtze Yacht. They are 6.8 metres long with huge sail area and crewed by either 4 or 5 people. We had great fun and it certainly woke us up after an hours sleep!! Friday evening we then headed over to Verona airport to pick the girls up.
Saturday morning dawned to 33 degrees, bright sunshine and everyone arriving at the club for registration and scrutineering. It was great to see the reaction on peoples faces at this fabulously beautiful town, club and sailing area. Robert and I had agreed to spend the day sightseeing with the girls and we had a fantastic afternoon driving up in to the mountains for the stunning views and scary narrow winding single track roads through tunnels and around waterfalls. We all enjoyed this afternoon and gave a real flavour of what the Italian Lakes has to offer.
Sunday dawned and after preparing the boats a few of us went out for a practice sail in bright sunshine. However, not long after we’d left the harbour the wind increased, the clouds got darker very quickly and we were loving charging around in 30 knots of breeze and warm spray. Soon however the rain started and whilst this didn’t bother us, the wind increased further until Justin Waples got blown flat with all sails let go. As we sailed up to check on him the hailstorm started. Within seconds we couldn’t see anything so we made the decision to drop the main sail and ride this storm out. By now the hail stones were the size of golf balls and trust me, when they hit you they hurt one heck of a lot! Robert and I sheltered under the mainsail for protection for 15 minutes keeping an eye on the one fifteen we could see. We were rather battered but absolutely fine when it stopped, not so the town however! When we got back ashore they’d had 3 inches of hail stones, cars and boats were damaged and dented and the girls told us afterwards that the town flooded and the streets became rivers. We managed to sail in ourselves but the rescue launches were out searching for missing boats and windsurfers for a long time after we’d got back in.
Monday - Race day 1 …… Back to bright sunshine, 20 knots of breeze and 35 yachts on the startline. We not only realised very quickly that there really is only one way to go up the beat on Lake Garda i.e. head for the cliffs and then tack up them. but very strangely we all quickly realised that there was a tide flowing on the lake!! Well I guess that technically it’s a current but when you head out from the cliffs there was about 1-1.5knots of current pushing you back down the lake and many of us (us included) got it wrong and were pushed down below the mark. It was a very surreal experience being on a lake and seeing tide on the windward mark when you get there! On day one we had an 8th and a 16th. The 8th was good but the 16th was a claw back from about 30th after missing the windward mark by 2 metres and then not heading for the cliffs quickly enough. Lesson learned!
Tuesday - Race day 2 ….. Another sunny day in good breeze. By now everyone knew which way to go and for those of you who have been to Falmouth, it was just like taking up the shore at St Mawes to stay out of the tide. Go 100 yards out and tack back in. Go 100 yards out and tack back in. Overstand the windward mark before heading out to sea for the mark. We’d all learnt this and it became quite tactical as to when to head for the mark. Our courses were pretty much the same, either sausage, sausage triangle or just sausage triangle but the beats were long and the runs were quick and good fun. We were consistent and ended the day with 2 x 9ths.
Wednesday - Race day 3 ….. Another sunny day. Another breezy day and by now the heavy crews were loving it with the lighter crews struggling to keep the boat flat. This is the day it went slightly wrong for us. We’d had a 12th in the first race and finished the 2nd race in yet another 9th position, only to find that we’d been done for OCS at the start. Never mind, a quick shower and beer and then off to Verona to visit the open air Opera at Verona. We went and watched Tosca and it was simply stunning. Sitting in the Colosseum Arena in Verona which seats 20,000 people to watch the last Tosca of the season was very memorable. A definite recommendation if any of you are in the area!!
Thursday - Race day 4 ….. Suddenly the weather changed and the cloud formed with slight rain showers. Thunderstorms were forecast but never materialised and we did have a good days sailing eventually when the wind did kick in with yet another 9th. Thursday evening was the night when everyone met up at a restaurant in town. Despite it throwing it down with rain in the evening, a fab time was had by all and it was also a good chance for people to meet crews they don’t normally chat with.
Friday - Race day 5 ….. Last day of sailing and suddenly a completely different wind direction. Today it was blowing from the north, down from the Alps where it had been snowing in Livigno!! Boy we found that out when we were out there. The temperature on the land had dropped to 18 degrees and we were only forecast between f1 & 2. As it turned out it started at 20 knots and steadily increased through the day with freezing cold conditions. We most definitely got the first beat wrong and rounded the windward mark in about 25th place. By now it was really blowing and the long long run had turned in to a broad reach. We absolutely flew down taking boat after boat and putting hundreds of yards on other boats (they’re words not ours). Unfortunately at the bottom mark we made an error and accidentally crash gybed. By the time we’d sorted ourselves out we’d lost everything again and eventually finished in 20th place. On to the last race in very strong winds. We made a good start, rounded the windward mark in 3rd and had a battle throughout with Charles Apthorp but managed to be in front for the last screaming reach to the finish. Dumping the kite down the reach twice but absolutely flat out for most of it was a brilliant way to finish the regatta and we sailed in on a high having finished in 3rd place.
We finished 9th overall which we were pleased with. Everyone loved the sailing venue, the club, the town and also the views. I’m sure we will be back there one day but we all now know why it has such a great reputation as a place to sail! After packing the boats away ready for the return trip we all sat down for the prize giving and evening meal. Gregg Wells & Richard Rigg deservedly won it with Steve Goacher and Phil Evans in Second place. Charles Apthorp and Alan Green were third. Alan Bax 4th, John Lavery (Irish Champion) 5th, Hamish Mackay (Dragon Gold Cup winner & RYA Scotland chairman) 6th, Gill Browning 7th, Chris Waples and us finished equal on points but Chris had a better count-back than us so came in 8th.
We had a fabulous time with great racing throughout the fleet. We sat next to a French boat at the prize-giving dinner and they told us that they’d enjoyed it as much as we had even though they finished lower so anyone feeling adventurous and fancies a trip like this, give it a try. Robert and I will help you and I’m sure you’d love it!
Glyn
