2020 Gold Cup, Lake Lipno CZE

It was a welcome return to Lake Lipno in the Czech Republic for the D One fleet, this time competing for the Gold Cup, again at Kemp Jestrabi venue for the European Championships back in 2016. The event superbly conceived and managed by Victor Teply and generously sponsored by Devoti and Harken.

Lake Lipno’s sub-alpine setting provided a stunning backdrop for the event and is so remote that we had more chance of catching a sheep than the corona virus despite Czechia recently moving onto the red list.

With travel restrictions etc in place the fleet of 15 was not unexpectedly smaller than usual, but made up for this with some high quality sailors including 4 Czechs (two from the Olympic squad) and 11 visitors from all corners of Europe, one representing Argentina as befitting the nearly world championship status of the event. The competitors weighed in with a range between 65kg and 100kg with the boats dual wing settings providing equal racing across all conditions.

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New D-One Training Video

There have not been many racing events in 2020, so we were very grateful in the UK to be able to gather for some informal racing and training in July, in place of the cancelled Lymington Regatta.

We are also very grateful to Liam Willis for capturing some high quality footage of key moments, and have spliced this into a video which we hope will provide long enough shots of all the key parts of a race to be useful to new sailors in the class.

The event covered a range of wind and tide conditions, and it is also clear that different sailors sail ...differently, so remember that you will need to adapt your technique to your own conditions, weight and fitness. Best of all, come and sail with D-Ones near you!

Our next event is the Gold Cup at Lipno (CZE), preceded by the open event at Wolfgangsee (AUT). Both wonderful places, and both actively sailing already after the lockdown earlier this year. Our next UK event is at Warsash in October.

Comments are welcome. If anyone has better video editing skills then I have please feel free to get in touch and improve on this, but I hope it is is interesting, and in places, amusing....

Click 'Read more' for the video, which is also on Youtube at https://youtu.be/wTdj-qsaZ5k

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Lessons for Lockdown: Nick Craig Tuning Tips

D1 Tuning Guide, June 2020

The D-One is a powerful, demanding boat yet highly refined and sensitive. Unlike the people who sail her ?. That mix of power and sensitivity is one of the reasons the D-One is such a great boat to sail!

Static settings i.e. those adjusted on shore

Mast foot position

Mast foot forward shifts the rig forward so your push point (centre of lateral resistance) moves forward whilst your pivot point (centre of effort) is fixed. So your boat will naturally track lower upwind with the foot forward. This is good in breeze and chop.

Moving the mast foot aft (turning the mast foot through 180 degrees) moves the push point aft so your ship will want to point higher upwind. This is good in flat water. Also in very light winds, it is hard to generate lift off the foils with little energy through the sails and foils. Moving the foot aft increases weather helm so generates lift which would otherwise need to be generated through leeward heel. Being able to sail flat in light winds whilst still generating lift from the foils is fast because a flat boat has a fair underwater hull shape and presents an upright rig to the wind. There is more wind high up due to turbulence near the water’s surface in light winds which has a disproportionate affect in light winds

A lot of theory! The short story is I sail with the foot forward in 6 knots+. Foot back in light winds is better but not by much. Foot back in 10knots+ is slow. So sailing with foot back is high risk if the wind builds so I need to be pretty sure it is a light wind day before putting the foot back because it is hard to change on the water, especially in a building breeze which is just the time you would want to reverse the foot!

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2019 Gold Cup, Lac du Der, FRA

The D-One fleet were treated to a Gallic Regatta for the 2019 Champagne Gold Cup organized by  Emmanuel Abord and  Etienne Lobert and hosted by Ligue de l’Enseignement Giffaucourt at Lac du Der 7 to 10 June 2019.

The rest of the French fleet, Marie Benoit, Thierry D'Allance and David Bremond did a fantastic job assisting with all the background tasks that made such a great regatta. A big thank you from all the competitors, especially the Czech-Italians who were politely allowed to beat the French in the international boules contest. Or so the hosts said. 

As sailors and support teams arrived from 7 nations on the Thursday everyone was enjoying the sunshine and light winds. Unfortunately the weather was not going to last. Friday dawned with a forecast of 23-30 kts with a storm with a name moving across Europe. The intrepid race management team set off ready to start at 1500. Launching in to the shelter of the club house seemed OK but a short sail later it was clear the fleet were in for a wild ride. A couple of keen racers headed up wind to check out the windward leg, but even the best did not make it back downwind without a swim.

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