Two days of the 2008 European Laser Championships have passed here in Nieuwpoort, Belgium. The weather report can be summed up in two words: cold and windy. We’ve been joking about the fact that the wide beaches and hopping beach-side community would probably be really nice to visit in the summer. With cool crisp air running across the English Channel every day since we’ve been here, it feels more like Week Six of the NFL season, mid-October instead of mid-July. I suppose we shouldn’t complain too much. We’ll likely be begging for these cooler temperatures next month when China heats up.
No weed to speak of on the racing areas just outside the long inlet off Nieuwpoort Bad (Newport Beach), but there is a heck of a lot of current. Even though we have sailed the majority of our four races in 12-18 knots of wind, the beats are taking as many as 25 minutes to complete thanks to adverse current running down the course. It has been a bit of a reality check coming back to the European Championships after sailing so many events on the ISAF World Cup circuit. World Cup events usually run races on the same type of course as the Olympics: 60 minute target times and six-leg trapezoids. The International Laser Class standards are a bit different opting for 70 minute target times and adding an extra dog leg upwind after sailing the standard six legs of the trapezoid. Only one race that we’ve finished to this point in the series has taken less than 80 minutes. I can tell you that there are some tired bodies out there after the finish of the second race of the day. The group of us going to China next month sailing at a slightly lighter bodyweight are certainly feeling a bit small on the upwinds, and the downwinds never last long enough to make the desired gains.
I haven’t been getting off the starting line in quite the shape I’d like to, and that has led to some pretty average scores to start the series. Working on getting it sorted out for tomorrow’s two scheduled races.
Results at: www.laserinternational.org
