Gullviverallyt 2011 - Race Report

My second "Gullviverallyt" is now completed and just like last year it was truly a perfect event. The weather this year was arguably the best ever in the 30-or-so-year history of this competition - sunny and warm AND windy. It's not always you get to enjoy that! The only downside for a Dehler 29 were the strong winds - the D29 is typically at the top of her game in very light winds, preferably 5-10 knots (tacking). So 20 knot winds, like we experienced quite often during the race this year, are far from ideal given then reasonably short hull of the Dehler 29 where longer boats can make use of a longer water line.

Nonetheless we did have some really good runs and as a crew we enjoyed every bit of it. It strikes me also how important it is to nurse and maintain a good atmosphere as a crew and that the selection of crew members should be based on "a good sense of humour" as much as "a good sense of boat speed". That was truly the case for "Kind of Blue" (the boat I sailed on) this past weekend; lots of laughter and good times on the rail.

The first two days offered lots of spinnaker runs whereas day three and four were more focused on tacking routines. Another striking feature to this competition is the level of skills among the sailors. It's not that often a "family race" can attract former Olympic sailors or Volvo Ocean Race dare-devils but "Gullvivan" does just that. It's a great mix of family racing (with everything from small toddlers to teenagers on board) and more "rail-hanging" teams. What joins these two groups is the passion for sail racing and the drive to always deliver on the race track. I would argue that this is one of the most competitive starting fields on the east coast of Stockholm each year, not shy of "Gotland Runt", "GranPrix" or "Lidingö Runt".

I'd like to thank Tobbe and Fredrik for a great team effort and although we did not end up better than "mid field" (45/93) we truly did our best also this year. Also a huge thank you to the "Gullvivan" organization where all logistics worked flawlessly.

(More photos will follow in due time).

Yacht designer Håkan Södergren participated as crew member onboard Tarac and "Södergren Group".

The "Gullvivan" race ribbon.

Because of a wind shift the last evening included a move of most boats from the central bay of "Biskopsö" to a straight further south. That was a pretty spectacular event in itself with e.g. two groundings...


Like always with "Gullvivan" there are boats just everywhere. This year 93 boats signed up whereas 81 completed the entire race.



One of the bigger "classes" this year was the "Smaragd".

Dehler 34 "Tjajka" making good speed on the final leg home.

Several "RJ85" on the race track.

"Letto di pletto" with very sleak lines.

Our competitors getting closer...

A battle between Dehler 34 and J/105.

Bad weather strikes Dehler 29 get-together

Strong southerly winds and heavy rain didn't really support this year's Dehler 29 get-together. The interest for this event was however not the same as last year - regardless of the weather forecast - when we gathered four boats. As a matter of fact - with this trend we'll be "minus four boats" next year. Tobbe (owner/skipper of "Kind of Blue") and I realized that we could just as well leave one of the boats behind and enjoy the warm and sunny evening on Saturday over dinner, so we opted for "Josefin" and headed out to Mörtö-Bunsö. The following Sunday was far from sunny but we made it back safely in scattered showers. It's a little interesting though that no one except "Kind of Blue", "Vitesse" and "Josefin" has shown any interest in this event in 2011. We'll see if it's worth the effort to organize it next year...

Dehler 29 get-together

Next weekend (May 28th-29th) offers the second Dehler 29 get-together in the Stockholm area. Last year we gathered four boats and we hope to have at least as many this year as well. Confirmed boats so far are "Kind of Blue", "Vitesse" and "Josefin". Sign up before May 25th. We'll team up at Lökholmen just north of Sandhamn. For more information (in Swedish) please go to;

http://d29josefin.blogspot.com/2011/01/dehler-29-traff-nr-2-28-29-maj.html

Lidingö Runt - Race Report

So we've completed yet another Lidingö Runt. Very challenging today in the light wind conditions where it pretty much started off as a lottery - one minute you were in the middle of the field, the next you were in the lead just because the latest gust came your way and not on the other side of the field. And that way it continued all the way out to Askrikefjärden where we dropped the shute and began the game of tacking. I do know that some sailors are very good at finding even the smallest gusts in light conditions but today it truly felt like a guessing game.

Once we started the tacking routine the wind had picked up and was actually very even. We also did very well throughout that section of the race track and overtook several boats. Once we reached Djursholm we found ourselves in 2nd position overall (i.e. in the Express class) but then the wind died completely. And I mean c o m p l e t e l y. So we parked with everybody else and could watch our speed drop from 3 to 1,5 to 0.00 knots. Quite frustrating but that's just part of the game. After a while some shutes came up again and much to our surprise they actually filled so we obviously followed the example and hoisted our spinnaker as well.

The final section of the race track which constituted about 5% of the total track took about 30% of the entire race time (at least in a ball park) so obviously this gets to your nerves and you only want to get it over with. With the last couple of tacks we were able to gain some more ground and beat one of the competing Express boats right before the finish line. All in all 4th position of 10 in total which we were quite happy with given the amount of time we had practised together (less than 3 hours...) and also the fact that the Express class is rather competitive...

Boats on a string...

Some of the "hotter" multi-hulls started off with a crash.

One of the downsides with racing the Express is that an engine is not allowed to be mounted (and weighs too much to carry onboard) and as a result you rely on helpful competition for towing you to the starting line in light winds...

Difficult wind conditions where you didn't quite know if you'd be first or last over the next 5 minutes.

There were several Dehler yachts in the race. Here a D34 on her way home.

And there goes the wind...

Still nothin'...

Tobbe on his Dehler 29 was hoping to overtake us before the end of the race but fell short - today...

"Kind of Blue" on her way home.

Lost comment...

Hill,

Blogger was down a few days and when they got online again your comment was gone. In any event, "Josefin" has the 62" keel i.e. the mid-sized one. I have sailed the deeper racing keel as well and upwind it offers a more precise steering and somewhat better pointing. But downwind it obviously makes little difference and the only true downside with having a deeper draft is of course while mooring. That can be a bit of a problem in the shallow - and rocky - waters of Stockholm. I'm off now to the first race of the year (not on "Josefin" though...).

What is the manufacturing year of your D29? Do you know how many there are in the US?

Richard

First (and only...) practise before Lidingö Runt

This evening provided some good - and well needed - practise runs for Lidingö Runt (on Express 978). We practised a lot of tacking routines in order to maintain speed through each tack. It's obviously difficult to judge without any competition around but it seemed ok. And no, don't worry - these aren't the racing sheets, only for training...

Let's see now, how did this thing work? Left? Right?

We normally don't sail without the top batten...

The weather seemed more like July than May. Shorts, shades and T-shirt at 8pm...

The first sailing weekend of the year

With almost no other boats in sight "Josefin" headed out to Säck (north of Kanholmsfjärden) on Friday evening and the following day to Stora Nassa. Not a single cloud in sight the entire weekend but the Ebersprächer heater worked on almost full effect between 10pm and 7am. The outdoor temperature cannot have been much more than 3-4 degrees at the crack of dawn but we could enjoy 20-22 degrees inside the boat all night. The sleeping bag actually felt like overkill. Fair winds on Saturday but nothing much to hoist for on Sunday so we motored home instead. Definitely one of the most beautiful weekends this season - and it has only begun.

Sunset over Stora Nassa.

"Josefin" at Gubben for a night's rest.

Stora Nassa is definitely one of my favourite spots in the archipelago. Especially during early spring.

The new green main (Dyneema) halyard. I also sprayed the luff with Teflon this year for less friction on the slides and it actually made a huge difference. Can be recommended.

Some of the rocks at Säck seem taken from a fairy tale.

The season start does call for some celebration...

A stunning evening at Säck.

"Josefin" is in the water

During the late afternoon today (Saturday) "Josefin" broke the waterline and thus inaugurated the 2011 sailing season. A little more than an hour later the mast was in place as well so by the end of tomorrow she'll be ready for her first sailing trip for the year. No sign of "Algot" though.