Berlin Musto Skiff Trophy 25-26. August 2012

Report : Heiko Schneider

Photos : Stewart Patience

I was looking forward to a nice weekend of sailing in Berlin as I attached my trailer to my car. After a six hour drive from Oelde (North Rhine-Westphalia), I couldn’t believe my eyes. First you have this huge city, then there’s this stunning lake so close to the city centre. It’s an exciting combination that really makes Berlin unique.

I quickly parked the boat and checked into my room. Then a small group of us headed to the beer garden to talk about our sailing experiences, boat tuning and of course to learn about Wannsee. Saturday was the first race day, so we had to rig our boats.

We were happy to learn that the launch had been postponed from 11am to 12pm, so everybody was able to get onto the water on time. In the first race there was a softly blowing breeze, but throughout the course of the day the wind became increasingly intense. In other words, it was great sailing weather. The temperature was pleasant and there were just a few clouds, and we were able to sail four races. There were lots of gusts and wind shifts, so I was constantly getting in and out on the wire, which was quite exhausting and required a lot of concentration.

During the breaks we had plenty of time to relax, because the races were only about 30 minutes long and we had to wait for the 29ers sharing a course with us. In the late afternoon the clubhouse served Leberkäse in bread rolls and free drinks and after a great day’s sailing, we enjoyed a lovely evening back at the beer garden.

On the morning of the second race day the wind was even stronger. At 11am we were ready to start and everything was going according to plan. But unfortunately there were only eight boats on the starting line, because two sailors had been slightly injured on Saturday.
The weather was beautiful again, although everyone had a little trouble keeping the boats upright and we frequently capsized. Righting the boats wasn’t easy given the wind that was gusting at 25 knots, but we had to be quick to avoid the passing ferries. I’ve heard that if you’re in the way, the ferries simply blow their horns instead of going around you.

After the second race, I decided to join some other Mustos returning to the harbour as I simply lacked the strength to keep tackling the strong winds. Afterwards, a final race with four boats was launched. Rain set in as we were all packing up the boats in the harbour, but luckily by that point we were almost finished. After the ceremony, I hit the road again for another six-hour trek along the highway.
In my opinion, the race was a great success. We enjoyed fantastic weather and the local Mustoskiff sailors did a great job of organising everything. I will definitely come back to Berlin again next year and hopefully even more Mustos will take part in this great sailing event in 2013.

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