Oslofjorden Rundt 2012 regatta

We entered the Oslofjorden Rundt regatta this year as well, with varying and windy conditions. The sailing instructions said the race might be shortened, and this would be posted with a flag at the starting line. We saw the flag, but were certain that it indicated the normal (longer) course. We got off to an okay start and started heading upwind to the windward mark. At the rounding I was not careful enough to protect our position, and a boat got space to turn inside of us (well behind). This became a problem after rounding, because they fell down on us as we were about to set spinnaker, and we had to push them away so as not to collide with us.We should have protested, but anyway we didn't.

Then we sailed further to the port layline to wait for the scheduled west/northerly shift. All the other boats eventually ended up on the starboard layline, which would mean trouble when the shift came. After a loooong time the shift came, and we were able to point the boat directly at the leeward mark while under spinnaker, with a lot more speed than the rest of the field. Woohoo!. Only problem was, we suddenly met boats in our own class that were returning. Oh no! Did we actually get it wrong with the flag during start? Yep. So we had no other alternative but to gybe in to the shorter mark (which we had overstood by a LOT), get in line with the other boats and get to the finish line as fast as possible. 11th out of 14 or so. Yuck.

Next day was a lot better, spinnaker start, and we were one of the first boats to the mark. Waited too long to douse the spinnaker, but did an okay windward beat in the winds (16-17 knots, up to 20+ in the breezes) and ended up 4th that day.

Not a great result, but it was a good practice round!

Here are some pics from the race:

The race has two race days, the first day we sail about 27 miles (or so we thought), the second day about 17.

Navigation lights on beating to windward.

Happy sailor in the Norwegian spring night. :)

Not so happy with the results, though! Hehe!

Boatspeed was pretty decent.

Here we are also using the longer tiller extension I bought for this season. We are now using the 75-120cm version, and not the regular 60-90cm version.

Some of the visiting boats for the race (on the outside of the berths).

Silverminken close to the finish line

Here is a picture of Silverminken heading towards the finish line in one of the short regattas at the 2012 training session. Only beaten by the Class 40 and Elan 37 boats (all 350s were behind hehe!).

Silverminken training at Oscarsborg

Here's a brief clip of Silverminken at one of the short regattas at Shorthanded Sailing Norway's annual training session.

Elan 310 "Delan" at Elan training session 2012

Here's a brief clip from the 2012 Elan training session at Oscarsborg, Norway onboard the Elan 310 "Delan". Onboard are the two happy owners, myself (couldn't really tell if I was filming in the beginning....) and expert Thomas Nilsson from North Sails.

A really cool session with experts in the areas of sails and sail trim, rigging, electronics and more, jumping onboard and giving tips and tricks, all arranged by the Norwegian importer Tor Hove at Fjordsail.

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!