In the "Sailors confess" series, we confess our stupidest sailing mistakes. But we are also looking forward to your confession. Send us your text, if possible with pictures, to mail@yacht.dekeyword "sailor's confession". If desired, publication will be anonymised.
At just 21 years old, I can by no means rely on the sailing experience my previous speakers of our confessional to fall back on. So you might think that, as the youngest editor in the crew, I would be less traumatised and have fewer mishaps. However, the fact that I started working part-time at a sailing school during the school holidays at the age of 14 means that this is probably a misconception, at least in part.
However, I am not the actual perpetrator of many of these stories. A certain degree of co-responsibility is undoubtedly undeniable. Nevertheless, it would hardly hurt me if events from this period were to be publicised in this format. To be honest, it only hurts half as much in such situations anyway if it is not your own material that is affected.
The following story is completely different. Not only was I completely to blame, but the boat I had just bought also suffered considerable damage. And even today, more than five years later, I'm still reluctant to tell anyone about it.
Rough conditions off Travemünde
Just under a year after switching from the Opti, I was due to take part in my first International German Youth Championship in the Laser 4.7 (now ILCA 4) in the summer of 2019. A miserably long journey from my home on Lake Constance to Travemünde on Priwall and a few days of training in the regatta area later, the time had come. I picked up my new used boat, which was about two years old, from the local caravan park. We had arranged to meet the seller there and everything went smoothly.
And what a feeling it was to finally be travelling on my own boat and not, as before, with the only usable, but also somewhat older Laser from my club. So a little later we started the first races. As a lightweight, I struggled as expected on the Baltic Sea and was even overtaken once by a slightly better-fed competitor on the lee side of the cross, despite maximising my hanging effort. Frustrating, but not too bad for the first German in the new class. But then came the last day of racing.
I didn't have much to gain or lose from my position in the middle of the field, but I had to survive what were probably the toughest sailing conditions of the series - and of my time in the Laser so far. Onshore winds gusting well over 25 knots and a wave that I remember building up to three metres (it was probably less) were waiting for me outside.
Capsized twice and still caught up
And to my astonishment, I mastered these conditions surprisingly well for my abilities, got through the cross well and survived the downwind. This was also the case in the penultimate race. Despite two capsizes, I had made up several places on the last downwind leg (I am very happy to tell this part of the story) and after the leeward gate I turned on to the space sheet towards the finish. With full speed and spray in my face, I reached towards the longed-for line.
I hadn't seen any competition since the windward mark, at most a masthead over the waves. As a regatta sailor, I still had the urge to complete the course as quickly as possible and logically took the shortest route to the finish. In this case, that meant narrowly missing the target ship - a TRW steel boat. I rode like crazy diagonally backwards, gripping the tiller boom far down. Every twitch meant a significant change of course. And it came to pass, as most of you have probably already guessed at this point.
Boom!
As I crossed the finish line, I was caught by a large wave coming from the side. I didn't manage to steer against it, instead I went with it in my rowing motion - and crashed into the outboard motor of the finishing boat with the bow lifted out of the water in a planing motion. Wham!
And then silence, just the flapping of my sail. At 16 years old and with my youthful hara-kiri madness, I was completely perplexed when there was no reaction from the target ship. I wasn't shouted at or even insulted. Instead, the crew reacted as if nothing had happened at all. From my point of view, their engine was also visually unharmed. So I apologised and drove away as quickly as possible, embarrassing!
Then I checked my boat as best I could without having to get into the water myself (I didn't want to tell my coach such a story). I capsized the boat and crawled as far forward as possible on the hull lying on its side with a queasy feeling in my stomach. It was a load off my mind: apart from a mishap, not a trace! Looking back, it was naive to believe that this could actually be the case. But at least I was still able to take part in the last race of the Travemünde Week and was back in high spirits and highly motivated.
Nasty surprise
However, when it came to packing the boat back on land and loading it onto the trailer, the mood quickly changed again. A nasty surprise: turned upside down, we suddenly saw a huge gaping hole on the underside of the bow. Completely chipped gelcoat and damaged glass underneath. 'Quickly put the undercover over and get out of here,' I thought.
It was the first and only damage of my laser career. In the meantime travelling on foils in the Moth classFortunately, such a mishap is unlikely to happen again. But there are other dangers lurking ...
And her confession?
Have you also made stupid or avoidable mistakes that resulted in funny, dangerous or expensive situations? Then please write to us at mail@yacht.dekeyword "sailor's confession". If desired, publication will be anonymised.
