In case you missed the ‘one man and his keelboat’, that trains daily in Dun Laoghaire, I am competing in North Eastern Europe in the Autumn series of the International 2.4mR Sailing League.

The first regatta was the Czech Grand Prix on Lake Macha on the last weekend of September. There were 15 competitors from Czechia, Germany, Austria and Ukraine. The first day of the regatta was light winds largely below 5 knots. A single race was completed before the wind died altogether. The second day saw a slightly stronger breeze with Detlef Muller-Boling from Germany taking the lead. The final day saw the strongest wind with a consistent breeze of 10 knots. On the first race of the final day I managed to get myself an OCS, and finished 4th overall in addition to winning 2 races. The podium places were taken by Detlef, followed by Daniel Bina and Alexander Sadilek from Czechia.

The following weekend I participated in the German National’s in Plau am See. This regatta saw another few days of very light winds. There were 46 competitors from 7 nations including Heiko Kroger the current world champion and most importantly, Megan Pascoe made the journey from England. The light winds, even made getting to the racecourse, through the narrow sheltered river between the harbour and the lake, a challenge. The race committee squeezed in 5 races in the first 2 days, an achievement considering how light the wind was. On the 3rd day there was no racing due to insufficient wind. The podium was occupied by Christophe Tromer from Germany, followed by Megan and Heiko. I finished 16th overall.