We are ready for Kiel Week

by Mat Belcher on 22 Jun 2005 After a short rest from the 470 Europeans we have been training in Kiel, northern Germany, for the last four days to prepare for our last event of the European Circuit - Kiel Week.

The weather here in Kiel has been amazing, 25-28 degrees, clear blue skies but absolutely no wind for the last three days.

If you know Kiel, you would expect rain, cloudy skies and lots of wind, but we still have one day to go until we race. No doubt rain and cold will be back just in time for racing!

Most of you have probably followed our results from the Europeans. We finished first in the Silver fleet. This was a great disappointment to us after coming from winning the SPA regatta only a week previous to the Europeans.

The first day of racing was sailed with winds ranging from 18-25 knots. Only two races were scheduled. We managed to finish second in the first race of the day.

At the top mark of the second race, our gaskets came undone from the boat (Mylar material glued to the bottom of the boat stopping the water from straying up into the cockpit of the boat).

Because of the wind strength, we almost ended up sinking from the amount of water coming into the cockpit from our speed. This dropped us from second to 14th in race two. It also left us unable to compete in the third race of the day, which race organisers held to try and get ahead of schedule - unlucky for us.

Day two proved to be our biggest and hardest day of racing we have encountered for a while.

Going into the day, we knew we had to be risky in order to get up into the standing for the Gold fleet, but could not afford to get another drop.

At the start of race four, we were black-flagged and were pulled out at the top mark (we were in first place) along with seven other boats.

Just what we could not afford to do... In races five and six, we finished second in both races, but due to the DNF and BFD, we finished in 27th place after qualifying. Only the top 26 went into Gold fleet, leaving us to be the first boat to miss out.

Being in the Silver fleet for the first time in our sailing career was a massive blow for us.

However, the experience of coming from such a high in Spa, to this massive low in results, will only make us stronger and work harder.

It also made us learn to place the gaskets on properly. It was interesting to note that all three Australian teams had their gaskets come off on the first day.

Only the women’s crew were lucky - their gaskets only fell off on the way home. It was a long night repairing three boats for racing the next day…

On a more positive note, the girls (Lauren Jeffries/Rike Ziegelmayer) sailed very well, finishing in 17th position. The women were separated into two fleets of 22 boats.

With our first goal to reach the Gold fleet, we started the qualifying being the most consistent Australian after day one, with 11,5,11 results, placing us in 11th place overall.

After the qualifying phase was over, we were in 16th place. The final phase allowed us to race against the some of the best women sailors in the world.

We struggled a little at first to come to grips with the density of racing, but then soon picked up, finishing in 17th place, but only four points away from 15th.

As was the case so many times before, there was no racing due to lack of wind. We missed out on a last chance to achieve our second goal of coming top 15 and beating the two boats that were only just ahead of us.

It was a great regatta though and huge learning for us. We will continue to work hard and gain as much experience as we can while racing in Europe.

This will be one of the last reports from our European season, as we are scheduled to come home on the 30th of this month, after Kiel Week.

We will be packing our container on the 27th, to ship to San Francisco, which will arrive on 1st August. We will only have four weeks in Australia before heading to the 470 Worlds and are definitely looking forward to having a little rest.

Thanks again for your support. We will be looking forward to seeing you all in Australia and telling you plenty of stories.

Take care, from the 470 team - Lauren Jeffries, Rike Ziegelmayer, Mat and Nick Behrens