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Archive 2006  
bullet Salon Nautique de Paris
bullet Long Distance Race
bullet Antwerp Race 2006
bullet WSVO Clubkampioenschap
bullet Goese Sas Trophy 2006
bullet 2007 J80 Worlds Announcement
bullet Mossel Race 2006
bullet Delta Week 2006
bullet Van Uden Reco Regatta 2006
bullet Goofy March: Mentaquilibrium races again
bullet Gooofy January: Mentaquilibrium does not compete

 

 

Salon Nautique de Paris 2006

No J80 displayed!

Every year I look forward to the Salon Nautique de Paris because of the great sailing spirit the boatshow is known for and I must say it was a great experience again. It was highly enjoyable to walk through the whole Bénéteau's First fleet to compare the yachts. Lot's of sailboats in the main hall. The 'palais d'accastillage' which was the second half of our visit is very interesting although I didn't notice a revolution in go faster gear.

Although it wasn't all super great for some reasons: J Europe decided not to promote one of the biggest one design fleets in Europe and sometimes the lack of knowledge and passion  some salesman had was truly amazing.  I had a detailed list of items I wanted to be solved. Only three out of my ten questions were answered.

But it's nevertheless always very enjoyable to be in Paris. I'd take the trip just for one meal in one of the exquisite brasseries. 

 

 

 

Long Distance Race

Mentaquilibrium is highly enjoyable to sail with, watch the video.

 See how the crew is having a great time. You can see Thomas at the helm, Wouter doing a good job at the main sail trim (klaar om te wenden....REE), Stolio on head sail trim/navigation/strategy and Pieter behind the camcorder.

We won the race last year, we knew it would not be easy to do the same this year. The aim is to sail als many nautical miles as possible on a track you can choose yourself, without using any leg between two buoys more than twice and all this within a fixed time frame. The strategy must take the tide and the wind direction into consideration.

Still, with less wind and less gennaker racks than last year we accumulated as much as 38,2 nm. Considering the 38,4 nm of the Sun Fast 40 Sail Force we think the result is not too bad. The 8 boats before us in the standings must have found better wind and tide than we did, unfortunately we couldn't catch any of their secrets during the great mussel supper in the evening in our new club house. Next year we'll try a slow start...

Results on www.wsvo.nl

 

Antwerp Race 2006

Mentaquilibrium sails 2nd in a thrilling Antwerp Race

 A lot of wind was blowing from the west when we left the harbour of Terneuzen. We had some miles to go to get to the starting line. Beating against a force 7 wind with a 4 hp outboard is not what we call a pleasure ride. Once near the starting ship we set a part of the head sail waiting with the main to see what the wind was going to do. There was a delay because security wanted less than gale 8 in Breskens befor allowing the race to start. When finally the starting procedures for all different classes began we decided to hoist the main sail to the top. Unfortunately the hoisting didn't go as smoothly as planned and we crossed the starting line with a delay of at least one minute.
On main and jib down wind we easily reached 10 knots an decided again to wait before hoisting the gen.
At the first mark we went for a gibe. When the boom reached starboard side it made a loud bang. The cable that fixes the sheet to the boom ruptured! A temporary repair with the core of a spare halyard was made by the very experienced and efficacious crew of the day: Thomas at helm, Yorick at main sail trim, Stolio at head sail trim, Paul at mast and boom vang and Lieven on gennaker hoisting and dousing.
Once the repair was done we could fully concentrate on navigation, tactics and boatspeed in a gusty but diminishing wind.
After the next mark we hoisted the gen in the second down wind leg, gaining a lot of speed while passing many competitors. After another spectacular reaching leg, gliding down the big waves, we could hoist the gen again, this time for the run of the day! Gibing to and away of the red buoyes at speeds constantly over 10 knots. At one mark we had to squeeze ourselves with another boat between a capsized 11-meter OD and the huge red buoy. Less than 50 meters width at those speeds... we immediately gibed away and continued our search for untroubled air.
Speed was uptempo constantly now, 13 to 14 knots surfing and a phantastic top speed of 15.65 kts.
Water was everywhere. At one time we nosedived a big wave and the deck dissappeared under buckets of water. This thrilling piece of sailing lasted until we had to turn another mark for a next reaching leg. As we were getting closer to Antwerp and more inland the wind diminished and became very irregular, demanding every second of concentration for trimming. We crossed the finishline...

Results: http://www.antwerprace.be/

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WSVO Clubkampioenschap

Mentaquilibrium looses 10 minutes in a 3 mile upwind leg

Crew of the day was composed of the usual duo, this time accompanied by Jared. It was Jared's first time ever on a sailing boat but he finely enjoyed it.

This local championship took place in exciting conditions, the wind coming from SSW varying from 3 to 5 Bft and gusty at times. Partly cloudy sky and a fine temperature of 21°. We started at the coast side of the line for the best angle towards the first mark. Close contact sailing is pure fun, but not the way the helmsman of CAP, a First 31.7, is doing it. He very agressively forced his luffing right and thought that touching us was a good idea. With a more intelligent helmsman this boat might have ended in the top 3. Mentaquilibrium kept very good pace as long as the apparent wind didn't get under 50°. In the very short and only spinnaker leg we managed a 11.6 knots top speed. But then in the following upwind leg of only 3 miles we lost 10 minutes to our direct oponents. Pure frustration. We had good speed, a good angle but too much heeling, despite maximum flattening of the cloth and maximum tension on the backstay. Two more crew could probably have reduced the problem but maybe not completely. In fact we experienced the same loss on both upwind legs during Sundays's race of the Goese Sas Trophy (see underneath). We think it's time for a new investment, a new mainsail which allows more flattening and real twisting for more upwind speed. To be continued...

On corrected time we were 19th out of 21 competitors. Results on www.wsvo.nl

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Goese Sas Trophy 2006

Mentaquilibrium sails a 4th place in the Racing Class

Saturday's crew: Thomas and Stolio at their regular positions and Jaak as guest sailor. The weatherforecast for Saturday's race was 1-2Bft decreasing to O Bft. To sail well in these conditions it's very important to have a smooth bottom so Thomas decided to jump in the water for 45 minutes equipped with a spunge! Our downwind start was not badly timed and clear of the pack. We chose the port side of the line to be able to make the next mark with the Gen without pinching. We made a clean and clear start but minutes after the start the wind started to move aft and thus giving an advantage to the boats who chose the port side of the line. We realized it was important to reduce the seperation between competitors to a minimum to avoid being trapped in a local Doldrum on our own. After a long period of ghosting the fleet regrouped around the top mark. During two short upwind downwind leg we managed to consolidate our position just behind the big guys with good speed and roundings, very importan with nearly no wind and a strong tidal current. We finished only 6 minutes behind the Melges 24, 4 minutes behind the two X99 and only 2 minute behind the J105. We were 2nd on corrected time.

Sunday's crew:  Thomas and Stolio at their regular positions and Wouter as guest sailor. The weatherforecast predicted a light wind of 2-3Bft. Our start was almost perfect, we started above and ahead of the competition and at the favoured end of the line. How we did it? Sorry, that's classified! Anyway it was only half way the upwind leg that the Mumm 30, First 34,7 and other bigger and faster yachts managed to overtake us. During the long downwind leg we managed to hang on to the Elan 333 while overtaking the J105. We rounded the downwind mark just behind the Elan 333 and several boatlengths ahead of the 105. During the final upwind leg we were slower due to larger waves having more impact on our speed being 7ft smaller. We finished 2 minutes behind the Elan and the 105 but 9 minutes behind the X99. We were 9th on corrected time.

Mentaquilibrum finished 4th out of 13 competitors. What's interesting about this event is that we sail in the same class with boats that usually sail in IMS. This makes the Racing class highly competitive.

 

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2007 J80 Worlds anouncement                                                                                       

July 1-7 in La Trinité sur Mer                                                                             

The 2007 J/80 World Championship will take place July 1-7 in La Trinite sur mer on the northwest coast of France. La Trinite, famous for the start of many ocean races and the home of the annual Spi Ouest Regatta, is one of the top sailing venues in France, and is in the heart of J/80 action in France. More details to follow.

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Mossel Race 2006                                                                                        DNC                                                                            

Next year we'll try again.

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Delta Week 2006                                                                                       

Windward Leeward racing on Saturday 8th July                                                                            

If you like close contact racing, you must go for windward leeward. Very frustating at times when you blow it. But so exciting when you catch up with the right shift. 3 races today. Very light breeze and great crew:  Stolio, Marc, Alexis and Thomas.
Race 1: we were right on the line at the gun but didn't manage to make enough speed. Then we we went far deep to the left hoping to avoid the strong current but had much less pressure than the right side of the track so the gamble didn't pay off and we found ourselves trailing the pack at the first mark. Boathandling was very smooth and we closed some of the gap.
Race 2: better speed at the start, we decided to go for the right side, the wind was diminishing to 1 -2 Bft and it was dificult to keep the good pace at the helm. The strong current against and  the light wind made the rounding of the marks hard to judge.
Race 3: For unclear reasons this start was postponed for almost 1 hour. The ORC1 fleet made it worse with 3 consecutive general recalls. At last we could start but with a dying wind, for the last leg there was no wind at all, the gennaker was hanging like a slack rag. We managed to make advantage of this condition and finished 5th.

For unclear races our results have been added to ORC1. But the race committee sent me the results

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Van Uden Reco regatta 2006
Windward Leeward racing..

This was our first experience with windward leeward racing. 3 races on Saturday, 3 on Sunday. Again great sailing conditions. Light breeze with some puffs and great shifts. Not all in our advantage though. The crew this time: Stolio, Marc and first time racer Alexis joined us on Saturday. At helm Thomas enjoying the scene an especially how well the crew was performing with the gennaker.
At the first start we decided to take the boat end of the line, but got luffed over too early by Stille Wilde. We had to round the starting boat to restart again, minutes after the pack. No early starts for the next 5. But looking for the best starting spot with enough speed among the many bigger boats is a real challenge.
Race after race we learned a lot and managed to get a 6th place on the last one.
We'll be back for more!!

For results see www.vanudenreco.nl

 

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Goofy March 4th 2006: Mentaquilibrium races again

Though not on the right speed track yet..

Yet another beautiful winter sailing day it was! Blue sky, sun shining all over, a 12 to 16 knot north westerly wind and...  cold temperatures again. On the crew this race: Stolio coordinating both trimmers Bram and Luk. Bram was performing great at mid front and mast position and taking the time for some nice pictures. Luk was joining us for the first time and helped at mid aft position with the main sail during tacking and gybing. As usual we found Thomas helming this fine sailing machine.
Okay, we took a late start, crossing the line three and a half minutes after the gun. But we made good speed and managed to overtake some of the competitors before the first upwind mark. At the beginning of the first down wind leg we were engaged in a close duel with Escapade, a First 27.7 with very nice sails and excellent boat speed. We were in the leeward position and we wanted to luff to go for speed, but they wanted to go straight to the next mark. We slowed down the boat to pass behind them and got into a nice surf of more than 10 knots, passing them in no time. Because the course to the mark was not completely down wind, we hesitated between gybing for speed or the smallest distance. We went for the latter, which we repeated at the second down wind leg, but this is not the right way to go, it's simply not fast enough. On average we need half a knot of extra boat speed to climb in the rankings. We know what to do, it's time for TPP: our tuning perfection program. More on this in a later news report.

For results see Clubracer.be

 

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Goofy January 7th 2006: Mentaquilibrium does not compete

Thomas crews on Wet&Wild!!

What a beautiful winter sailing day it was! Blue sky, low sun, a 8 to 10 knot easterly wind and...  cold, some 4° Celsius. Not enough crew was available to sail our J-80. But when you can join the crew of a superb X-43 you don't hesitate. This boat sails in the IMS1 class and this means starting together with other gorgeous 40-45ft sailing yachts. As boat and crew are still relatively new to each other, their programme is essentially about learning and searching for best handling and fine tuning. Oh no! I won't reveal their secrets!
Still we managed not to end last and I would be very happy to be sailing with them again. For results see
Clubracer.be

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