A little bit of everything at the Swedish Weta Nationals 2014

by Leif Goldkuhl on 30 Aug 2014 There was calm winds, there was gales, Western winds, easterly winds and southern winds. Bright sunshine and cloudburst. We experienced all of this and even some more stuff, during day one of the Weta championships. The second day was slightly less thrilling but nevertheless really exciting sailing.

But let us start from the beginning. This was the third year that we sailed a race in Hjälmaren Lake, we have been at Fiskeboda (2011) and at Hampetorp 2013 and 2014, where the organizing Club 'Södra Hjälmarens Båtklubb' is located, a perfect spot, easily accessible from both the East and West Coast, and with special sailing conditions. If you are a coastal sailor a truly unique experience awaits you when you go to sea at Hjälmaren. The wind picks up instantly and in just a few minutes the small friendly waves changes to a rough choppy sea.

Round the Vinön Island – including all types of weather

We started 20 minutes after the handicap fleet of keelboats with spinnakers and 10 minutes after the 'family crewed' boats. It was a nice view with all the sails, heading north to round the Vinön Island. Soon the Wetas had overtaken most of the boats. We fought all the way in the Weta Class. I think the wind speed varied between four and 27 knots and we had a constant battle during the 19 miles. It is truly amazing that after such a long distance there was a close battle on the finish line between Erik Törnqvist and Ulrich LIndberg. Ulrich won the race and to destroy all excitement, he also won the whole series that continued the next day. The fighting was between these two guys and Niklas Waller, while Rolf Karlsson, Arne Johanson, Zofie Vavra and undersigned had to watch the combattants from behind a little bit, and in that order.

Hints and tricks from the winner

Personally I was happy during strong downwinds but fell through to windward. But the good thing is that I know what I need to practice. There is a bunch of good sailors in the Weta Class which makes it even more fun, being a novice racer. Everybody shares their hints and skills. You learn something new all the time. And the Weta friends are really cool guys that helps you become a better sailor, and they are as happy as you are concerning your success. If you ask the winner why he has won the races every year, he answers with his typical Stockholm dialect that it is only because of a lot of practice and experience from dinghies and bigger multihulls.

He says that there are a lot of things to have in mind simultaneously, but with a lot of experience some things comes automatically.

- Pre-tuning for the prevailing wind conditions.

- Right tension for the downhaul, the gennaker and jib halyards.

- Set the batten tensions right.

- Take care of the weight distribution in the boat: most often move forward.

- Constantly reconsider the sheeting.

- Concentrate on the telltales and windshifts.

- Small rudder movements and smooth tacking.

- Full concentration throughout the race.

He also had more advices but I will save them to a later time.

It pinpoints what racing with the Weta really is about: Fun, Fast. But Easy? That can be discussed... But the more hours of Weta sailing you get, the more fun it also gets.

More sailing

I think all participants agrees that this was a really successful event. One day with a long distance race and the next day with four races on a windward - leeward course starting with a reach, like an Americas Cup course.
Next year we hope to race a lot more and Erik Törnqvist and undersigned welcome all Weta sailors to a race weekend in Falkenberg at the West Coast. Make a mark in your calendar for August 1-2, 2015 already now. As the Swedish Championships in Beach Volleyboll will be held at the same time in Falkenberg, we are confident it will be a great time with lots of spectators, so it might be a good idea to book lodging already now,

More information visit website.