Pilsner (Lager) del Garda
A shell-shocked number of us needed a few of those after the heavy winds on Thursday. The slightly more benign forecast for the last day was greeted with relief.
With “Neutron” Southon safely installed as 2012 RS700 European Champion, the rest of us had Friday to ourselves as he mercifully decided to spend a day with the family. Race 9 and 10 saw probably the best weather of the week with a friendly F4/5 which lasted well into the evening and one or two competitors upping their game after the week’s challenges. For the rest of us it was a bit like skiing on freshly-groomed snow; you can convince yourself you’ve finally cracked it.
Just a point behind “Killer” Wales, “Bimbles” Nolan (who, astonishingly, criticized some of us for fiddling with our boats too much) was in with a good chance of second overall. In the event Killer lived up to his reputation and shut the door and “Vousatý” Krizek, who had been improving all week even gave Jerry a run for his money, scoring two notable seconds and fourth for the regatta. “Steady” Gatehouse had a nice fourth and sixth to cap a super week for fifth overall (and the top prize for most smiling all the way round)! “Nearly Dr.” Rindermann had a great third in the last race, his swansong in his RS700 which he sold during the championships, for eighth overall. He also posted the record fastest 500m during the week at 17.21kt, not bad in an older boat – we all wish him well and hope he’ll return to the fleet soon.
Further down, “Showered” Edwards from Queen Mary SC had a successful regatta and sixth overall, just a point behind Steady which was something considering how often he capsized! He’s very quick, fastest of the week with 21.33 and 21.22kt in separate races on the very windy Thursday. “Jan the Man” Myslik had a very consistent run of 4th, 5th and 6ths for seventh place and looked very comfortable all week. The other QM boys “Boy” Bayliss, “Great Uncle” Griffiths and “Beardy” Blake romped home in 9th, 10th and 11th for the week, weary but happy (to be alive in my case).
Everyone found the conditions challenging at one time or another and the heroic efforts at the tail end shouldn’t be forgotten. Everyone was smiling broadly each evening which says a lot for the RS700 spirit.
It was real pleasure to meet new friends from the Czech Republic and Spain and, of course, the whole Luxembourg RS700 National team.
GPS replays of all the week’s races are available at www.hamishgriffiths.com but sadly, due to a psychiatric hitch, those of Neutron are not available. If you have any difficulty viewing the tracks it is worth making sure that you have a (free) up to date version of Java on your computer. There are some viewing tips on my website and, of course, the tracks look a lot better on a large monitor. There is also a spreadsheet of the fastest speeds over 1 second and 500 metres – just click the link on the Garda12 page. (I suspect that the Champion would have featured strongly here but he’s better at sailing than running a GPS).
Very many thanks to Fraglia della Vela Riva for a wonderful event, to PRO Antonio Micillo and his excellent race team and to Matteo in the office. Everything ran like clockwork.
I sometimes think that the hard work put in by Heather Chipperfield and her team from the RS Association doesn’t get acknowledged enough in these reports so I should like to put that right here. I also feel that a special mention of Emily and Matthew Nolan should be made for their cheerful and conscientious contribution to proceedings.
Last, but not least, thank you to Magic Marine for generous sponsorship. Let’s do it all again in two years!
Hamish Griffiths
GPS tracks are up as usual on Hamish's website www.hamishgriffiths.com where there is also a link to a spreadsheet of speed records.
The Magic Marine video can be watched and downloaded at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW5IGIhsYLc&feature=youtu.be
