The 10th Saar-Lor-Lux Regatta was not only a highlight among the regattas on Lake Bostal, but also the second highlight in European Circuit 2024 after brilliant start with the French Open. 28 sailors from 7 European nations took part. Once again there was regatta sailing at a high sporting level and an extremely friendly and relaxed atmosphere among the sailors including the accompanying persons, not least due to an extensive and impressive accompanying program. Both together are becoming more and more a feature of regattas European Circuit. But first about sports:
10 races were planned over three days. On Saturday we had to wait a long time until a stable but rather weak wind from the west allowed us to start. Megan won the first race ahead of Ben, Ulli, Urs and Detlef. And to get straight to the point. That was also the overall result of the first five places on Monday. But there was still a lot of fighting to do until then. The second race saw Megan again ahead of Ben, but behind her Christophe Etorre from France had a great run with third place. In the third race, the wind dropped before the last downwind course. The race was cancelled, although some participants had already crossed the finish line.
On Sunday there was a little stronger wind from west to south-west and in the third race Christophe continued his good performance with a start-finish victory ahead of Megan and Ulli. Behind it, things were always very tight in the other three races of the day, which was shown by mass rounding of the buoys, in which 10 places were lost or gained both in the field and on the short finish line. At the end of the day, however, the results satisfactorily represented everyone's level of performance.
Because the final result on Sunday was also the overall result, as the wind let us down on Monday with under 4 kn. Megan won clearly and only had to miss out on third place. Ben came second due to a win in the last race. Ulli came in third place, tied with Ben. Urs came fourth and Detlef came fifth and won the Report Trophy. So he was allowed to write this report.
However, the report would not be complete if it were to ignore the social interaction. Most of us came together for dinner in the clubhouse on Friday evening and the socialising began.
On Saturday there was a content-rich welcome evening, introduced by the chairwoman of the Saarbrücken Yacht Club and a review of the event 10 years of Saar-Lor-Lux Regatta. For the 10th anniversary, Steffi received a cake and Michael the framed poster with the signatures of all participants, presented by Holger Humborg, who was also present at the 1st Saar-Lor-Lux.
Manuela and Ulli Libor presented many special awards to sailors who are otherwise not in the spotlight. That's how Hendrick came in as a newcomer honored in the class and Nicolas (FRA), Pieter (NED), Megan (GBR), Frank (GER) and Sven (GER), because they found their way to Bostalsee for the first time. Patrick (IRL) received the prize for the longest journey (16 hours!), Janosch (GBR) for the furthest journey (from Gibraltar) and Dirk (GER) for the furthest journey from Germany (807 km).
In addition, the respective 10th place in a race received a dayly price: Loic (FRA) and Urs (SUI). Megan (GBR) was also honored as the first twice. All of this had a very relaxing effect and not only made the winners happy.
And so it continued on Sunday evening with Manuela and Ulli. Stefan Kaste also received the poster with the signatures of the participants for his many donated prizes. Christophe was thanked for the graphic design of the poster and the Action4Europe logo. A highlight was the quiz with questions about sailing in general and the 2.4mR in particular. The first person who thought they knew the answer came forward and was awarded a point if they answered correctly. In the end, Megan won ahead of Urs. To the delight of all those present, Loic and Detlef, who were tied on points, had to play a play-off and Detlef had the luckier knowledge. However, he immediately passed on the huge bath towel with a diameter of two metres to the large family of Sven Schulz-Bell, who could make better use of it with six people. And the participation of two families - Mr and Mrs Infanger with two girls and Mr and Mrs Schulz-Bell with four boys - was another social highlight of this regatta. In particular, nine-month-old Bjarne, who was always smiling, was the favourite of all participants.
Wolfgang came 10th twice and Lutz twice that day and received the daily prices. Christopher, Ulli, Megan and Ben each came first once.
And finally, the prize-giving ceremony on Monday turned into a relaxed event, when not only the very handsome official prizes were distributed, but also high-proof beer from France.
The two representatives of the 2.4mR-sailor in France were presented with an Olympic flag with torch by Ulli for the next but one regatta of the European Circuit on the Seine, which will be held in the same place to mark the anniversary of the Olympic sailing competitions 100 years ago.
After race director Achim Müller with his crew, Steffi Jakobs with her cooking crew and Michael Jacobs for his organisation had already been thanked many times during the days before, Manuela and Ulli received a special applause with a standing ovation for their supporting programme at the end.
It was a wonderful regatta, and not just for me.
Detlef Müller-Böling, GER 99, winner of the Report Trophy
Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...
Film report from Saarland television