Eurocat 2009

Eurocat is one of our biggest races of the year. This year 3 days of racing were scheduled, from Friday (1st of May), until Sunday.
On Friday and Sunday we had buoy races, on Saturday we did a long distance race to an island in front of the coast called l'île d'Houat.

We sailed in the C1 class and were the smallest group (about 60 boats). Next to the C1, there was the C3 group (97 boats) and the F18 (120! boats).
Anyway, 60 boats made for an already very busy starting line.

The first day was most fun sailing wise. We did 5 races in winds of 10 knots, up to 20+ in the last race. In contrary to the North Sea, were we are used to sail, the water here stays relatively flat with these kinds of winds. One of the biggest adrenaline rushes I've had and the gps to prove it (top speed of 21 knots on the reach and 18 downwind!).
On the downwind we really noticed the difference in our skills compared to last year. The Blade didn't pitch pole or stuff it at all and we could keep up with the other competitors.


21 knots!

At the end of day 1 we were 21st, but our ambition was to end in the first 20 boats.
During the entire regatta the pin end was heavily in favor, but due to the strong winds on the first day, we decided to go for clean air and start at the committee boat. So this still gave us room for improvement on Sunday (second series of buoy races), so we were confident we could do better.


At the upwind mark

On Sunday the winds were a lot lighter and we only did 2 races. Every time we managed to get a good start at the pin and with clean air. We were 5th and 10th at the upwind mark!




But then the tactics started to come into play. We lost places on every downwind leg, so we ended up racing in the pack again by the time we finished.
Eventually these 2 last races were our worst and we ended up 25th overall...

The other 2 F16's competing (2 Vipers) ended 2nd and 17th overall, a very good result.

Next to the buoy racing we also managed a long distance race on Saturday. Very light winds making it not the most fun race, but the views of l'île d'Houat made up for it. The rough Atlantic Ocean coast lines, sunny weather and long ocean waves made it an unforgettable experience!

Well, the racing was great again and I can only encourage the other F16 sailors to put this event on their agendas for next year!

You can find the C1 results on the website of the Yacht Club Carnac or by having a look at these pictures. Unfortunately boat types are not mentioned on these results. I have added the 3 F16 boat types to make clear who finished in what spot.