Harbour cinema: How I involuntarily became the star of the run-in show....

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.

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How the sailing trip turned into a flop

A beautiful Sunday afternoon off Fehmarn in late summer. I spent a few hours sailing the Hobie 16 on the Fehmarnsund with my sailing mate Torsten in a perfect easterly wind. On the way back to the mooring in Burgtiefe, the course leads to Burger Binnensee through the narrow fairway past the former "Café Sorgenfrei". The sun terrace right on the shore was packed with guests in the fantastic weather, who watched the boats entering and leaving with curiosity. Due to the narrowness of the fairway, most of the boats were travelling under engine power. Not us. With no draught to speak of, we didn't need to sail within the buoy line and we only saw the fat ships creeping along at around 3 knots as an obstacle anyway.

Pride comes before a fall

The wind direction was perfect, we were well groomed, wanted to show off and impress the sailors ashore. So we finished the trip in a double harness within easy reach of the wheat beers and Aperol Spritzes on the tables on a skid. It was a good start too, with a close-hauled course without the hassle of crossing, good speed and a relaxed feeling. Shortly before passing the café, it happened: for some unknown reason and without prior notice, the front harness wire broke and the catamaran continued its speedy journey without me. At least for a few metres, because the lack of riding weight led to the inevitable capsize.

Good show

The capsized Hobie drifted crewless in the middle of the fairway, the assembled guests cheered and applauded. What a disaster! We endeavoured to right the boat as confidently as possible and continue the journey unrecognised. Of course, it didn't work straight away and there was no shortage of sardonic tips and advice on how best to manage it. The queue of following boats that had formed in the meantime didn't help to calm our nerves either. At some point, the Hobie floated upright again, we climbed on board in a daze and made sure that we got out of sight and earshot of the spectators as quickly as possible.

If we had lined up with the incoming boats like an Englishman at the bus stop and taken our foot off the accelerator a little, this sailing Sunday would have come to a dry and stress-free end for us, but the fall comes after pride.

We drank the obligatory warm-up beer in the car park that day instead of in the "Sorgenfrei"...

Click here for the previous sailor confessions...