Monday 8 September 2008

1st Daimen Match Race, Berlin, Germany

After the excitement of the Extreme 40s at the iShares Cup in Kiel last weekend it was a pleasure to get back to - relatively - a more baisc form of our sport. The VSaW, a wonderfully traditional sailing club on the shores of the Wansee lake, south-west of Berlin city centre, was the host of this brand new match racing event for women. Using four chartered Skippi 650s we had two days of match racing in light but eventful conditions. The best lake sailing has to offer; lots of pressure variation and numerous shifts to keep all the crews busy and tacticians earning their titles!


The club hope it will be the begining of something special - its counter-part the Berlin Match Race will hold its 16th edition this Autumn. This year they plan to have both an ISAF Grade 1 Open event as well as an ISAF Grade 1 Women's event. It will be a joint effort by two of the main clubs on the Wansee, VSaW and the Berlin Yacht Club.



There was much discussion in the evenings about the proposed women's match race event in the 2012 Olympic Sailing Games, and plenty of speculation about boats, formats, and qualifying structures. Hope it all gets sorted at the ISAF Annual Meeting in November, Madrid, ESP.

No comments: