Race report ·
When two miles decide twenty-four hours
Two of our own boats on the 24-hour podium, both crews among the first twelve of 181 – and two miles short of the win.
Photos from this post
© Irene SchandaA record fleet to open the season
The Long Distance Challenge began with the 35th Attersee Grand Prix and a new participation record: 109 boats and 361 sailors, six boats more than the year before. The gun went at ten from the UYCAs starter’s tower. In temperatures up to 28 degrees the wind came lightly from the east in the morning, turned into the Rosenwind as the race went on and eased in the afternoon.
Only 76 of the 109 boats finished within the 17:00 time limit; for the remaining 33 the result was projected from their tracking positions. First across the line and also first on corrected time was Thomas Tschepen with a Libera A, ahead of the Zieher family’s 18-foot skiff and the Eitzinger brothers’ Tornado. Of our two boats, the yellow Mr. Cello Due finished fifth on elapsed time, Liberté seventh.
Twelve hours: a boat built in 1905 in front
A week later 205 sailors on 54 boats set off for the twelve- and twenty-four-hour races. Both rankings are the same race: everyone starts together at eight in the morning; after twelve hours some stop, the rest sail on until the following morning. An hour after the start came an unexpected downpour, in the afternoon shifting, gusty winds. On miles sailed the Eitzinger brothers won the twelve hours with their Tornado and almost 60 miles; on corrected miles Thomas Stelzl and his crew won on “Panther”, a wooden boat 120 years old.
© Irene SchandaA three-way fight through the night
Fourteen boats sailed the full twenty-four hours, both team boats among them, through a night with long calm spells. At the front three boats ran neck and neck: Moritz Strauch with an ESSE 850, Mr. Cello Due with Tobias Böckl and Liberté with Florian Gföllner. In the end Strauch pulled away and won on miles sailed by two miles, around 3.2 kilometres, ahead of Tobias Böckl, and on corrected miles as well. On miles sailed that put both team boats on the podium: Mr. Cello Due second, Liberté third. Strauch sailed with Elena Strauch and Anna Truttenberger; the crew’s average age was just over 20.
© Irene SchandaRain and a fickle wind
The 97th Long Race on 2 August closed the series: 116 boats and 376 sailors, the start as every year with the historic cannon, the course from the club to Burgau, on to Kammer and back. Unlike the year before it rained hard, the wind stayed fickle, and in the lake’s calm patches some boats sat still for a long time. Thomas Tschepen won twice over with the Libera A “Clandesteam”: first boat home after 3:57:50, and first on corrected time. Our best run once again belonged to Mr. Cello Due, fifth on elapsed time.
© Irene SchandaBoth among the first twelve
181 boats stood in the season standings. The series went to Thomas Stelzl with places 19, 1 and 2, rewarded with a one-kilogram silver bar; second was Manfred Schönleitner on a Brenta 30. Liberté, with Florian Gföllner on the helm, finished tenth on 759.5 points; Mr. Cello Due, with Tobias Böckl, twelfth on 684.8. It is the first year on our results list with two team boats in the standings, and both made the first twelve.
The figures in this report come from three reports published by the UYCAs and from the series final standings.
© Irene Schanda