Silverminken en route to Elan training session

Here's a shot of Silverminken en route to the 2012 Oscarsborg Elan training session, where the Norwegian Elan distributor invites Elan owners to practice sailing before the season starts.

This year we have distinguished guests, top Elan executives are here with us to sail, in addition to several experts.

The setup is like this:

* Several small groups of similar boats
* One boat in each group takes turns being the "leader"
* The leader sails upwind with a constant/stable trim
* The other boats in the group attempt to trim to beat the leader
* Sail upwind for about 15 minutes, then return to start
* Repeat, changing leaders

Sounds like a good routine, so I am looking forward to getting the season started!

Directly after this training session (and at the same location) the Norwegian Shorthanded Sailing club is having their annual two-day training session for shorthanded sailors, so this weekend is packed with training! Cool!

Preparations for a new season

The sails have now been carried down from the loft, packed up again, and have just been delivered to the local North Sails loft for a checkup.

They suffered a bit last season, but I am surprised at how much these can take. The only obvious problem was a small tear in the spinnaker, chafing on something when we took the spinnaker down in 36-38 knots of wind.

Looking forward to the season, will post more pictures and info as I progress.

The first activity this season looks like it will be an Elan gathering at Oscarsborg 26-27 april, where we will focus on sailing Elan boats (mostly 310s and 350s) upwind and getting some matching done. That goes straight over to the annual shorthanded training session (which is also at Oscarsborg) that weekend, where the focus is on downwind sailing and doublehanded boathandling.

Cool! If you would like to share some of your own activities, please post comments or just send me an email and I can post on the blog for others to share!