Upgrade 2.0

The next big step was upgrading to standard rigg. We had already purchased our big rigg at Kiel Week and now it was finally time to sail it. Back in Berlin at Wannsee, we first assembled the boat and put the mast together before we went out on the water the next day to familiarize ourselves with the material. The conditions were gusty Wannsee conditions as you would expect, but the wind was unusually strong for the Berlin summer with gusts up to 18 knots. However, in the flat water, the maneuvers were easy and we only had one capsize. Even though our trim was not yet perfect, we quickly noticed that maneuvers in general were much easier. After all, the boat was the same, only the larger sail area gave us more pressure in the sail. We also felt the speed of the boat, especially on the gennaker course we were very fast. After a total of almost 5 hours on the water, we could hardly wait to spend more time on the boat.

We continued with six days of training in Warnemünde in a wide variety of conditions. The Baltic Sea welcomed us first with light winds, which were ideal for our start. We sailed many maneuvers and made countless speed comparisons with the team from the MV (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) squad. Over the next few days the wind then got stronger and we continued to practice our sailing technique - lots of tacks, gybes, gennaker sets and drops and lots of sailing distance. In the mornings we planned the upcoming winter season and changed constructions on our boat. Now we are much better prepared for future events and have a ground layer confidence in sailing the big rigg.