The Yacht Club Langenargen (YCL) has launched a new regatta on Lake Constance. The course leads first to Bodman, from there to the other end of the lake to Lochau near Bregenz and back to Malereck near Langenargen. The route is 70 nautical miles long, around 130 kilometres.
44 crews entered, including some of the fast twin-hulled boats. One of the first was Ralph Schatz. He wants to finally win a long-distance regatta around the whole of Lake Constance with his carbon catamaran "Black Jack". Schatz has a serious competitor in Fritz Trippolt from Bregenz and his "Skinfit". The Libera "Telebox uno" with Karsten Heinzle also wants to reach the finish line as quickly as possible. Also on the list of participants are traditional yachts such as the "HOC Neustadt", an over 80-year-old seafaring cruiser with a proud length of 15 metres.
The competition is organised in the ORC, Yardstick and Traditional classes.
YCL President Roel van Merkesteyn predicts: "It's going to be a great story. We are still expecting some late registrations. Many will only decide to take part shortly before the late registration deadline." Merkesteyn is expecting more than 50 boats at the start at 8.00 am.
The field of participants is controlled by GPS trackers. The courses of the individual boats can be tracked in real time ( www.ycl.la ) and also recorded.
One of the special features of the regatta is the lack of a time limit. "If we realise in the morning that there is not enough wind, race director Hans-Walter Jöckel can shorten the race in Bodman. Then it's straight back to Langenargen from there," says project manager Michael Nöltge. "Our advantage is that we start in the morning. The majority of the field should be back at the finish before sunset." This means that the sailors don't have to take on the rigours of a night race from the outset. However, those who take their time due to the wind can still sail to the finish on Sunday. This is because the award ceremony will not take place until the Interboot on Saturday, 22 September.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
