Report from Ljungskile 1 to 4 May 2025
Sun, rain, too much wind, calm, drama, torn sails and stays, old acquaintances and new acquaintances. This year's sail in Ljungskile had it all.
Training
The first days were set aside for a training session led by Megan Pascoe. We were given foil sheets with descriptions of various numbered exercises in the boats. We therefore did not need any long explanations in advance or at sea. This was a good pedagogical move, which worked very well for the sailors who followed the instructions given. The first day was mainly used for starting training. The sailors were filmed during training, and videos were played with comments at the briefing afterwards. It was especially good to get specific feedback on good and bad sail trim.
Unfortunately, there was a collision and damage to a boat during training, but fortunately the boat was repaired and was able to participate in the sails on Saturday and Sunday.
On day XNUMX, there was too much wind for training at sea. Therefore, there was a session with a review of the Racing Sailing Rules. Again, a good pedagogical approach was used. All the participants were placed on chairs in a circle. The floor between us was used as a "board" with boats and wind arrows. Nice bird's eye view and good contact between everyone. Combined with Megan's overview and control of the subject, this made for a useful and educational session. Many questions were answered.
The regatta
The first regatta day was completed with XNUMX races, with time for lunch in the middle. The wind direction was southeasterly. The wind strength was abundant, and several stays came off. The undersigned came off both the backstay and the forestay during the day.
On the second regatta day, the wind increased further, but the direction was now northerly, and the waves were therefore smaller. 3 races were planned. Many chose to stay on land that day, but 7 sailors started in the first race. The second race was cancelled when a mark drifted. Races 3 and 4 were completed with 3 rounds. It would have been sufficient with 2 rounds as in the other races, considering the conditions. It was cold and wet out there. 2 sailors completed all races that day, -and were awarded for it. These were the raw-ass Mads Komstedt from Sweden and Sigurd Utbjoe from Norway.
All three participating countries got a representative on the podium
1. Frank Huth, Stavanger Sailing Association, Norway
2. Mads Komstedt from Viggbyholm Sailing Club, Sweden
3. Niels Ulstrup from HolbÊr Sailing Club, Denmark
Of the 23 sailors who started, 13 were Swedish, 9 Norwegian and 2 Danes.
Other awards include Mads Komstedt being awarded the Wanderer Trophy as best Swede, and Hans Asklund becoming Grand master. He also received a "fair play award", according to Hasse Malmsten, for his first voluntary 360 degrees.
Good food was served for lunch during the training days, and a culinary highlight with a 3-course dinner on Saturday evening. Of the potential for improvement, there could be a little clearer information about which lunches were served, and which we would have to make ourselves. This went well, but some sailors were probably a little hungry on Saturday afternoon.
We would like to praise the host and course crew for a very well-run training session and regatta. A special thank you to instructor Megan who patiently and kindly shared her knowledge and experiences with us who had questions about everything. But also a big thank you to all the other participants who helped make this a great training and regatta weekend.
With a record number of Norwegian participants, we hope for a response from the Swedish and Danish side with participation in Nordic ranking 2 in Fredrikstad. Registration here:https://www.manage2sail.com/no/event/24mNorM#!/
See you soon!
Haavard Haktor Holstad, NOR 115
Photographer Dan Persson/Gunilla Larsson