Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2010

During the summer we had a wide range of experiences.  Sadly we lost a skipper, Sabine Jüttner-Storp during the second leg of our event but the tremendous warmth and support from so many quarters –the Island of Bornholm and the city of Västervik in particular- made us remember that we are an interdependent community.

Our first start in 2009 was from Warnemünde where young members of the sailing club operated the signal flags from the western mole and our VIP was aboard the DGzRS vessel ARKONA.  The good folk of Rønne, Bornholm laid on a superb dockside barbecue to cheer us up in the fresh cool and often wet weather which prevailed over much of the event this year.

We added three new ports to the Baltic Sprint Cup’s portfolio.  Västervik, on Sweden’s east coast was a charming stopover hidden within a large and beautiful archipelago where we were honoured by the presence of ISAF President Göran Petterson and his wife Gudrun.  Liepāja in Latvia made us most welcome with a military band in the protected harbour with yacht moorings in the former Trade Canal, and the minelayer A-53 VIRSAITIS to signal our arrival and departure supported by the Coastguard vessel K-14 ASTRA.  Swinoujsčie in Poland brought our fleet to its penultimate stopover in the capacious yacht harbour in a former ships’ dock adjacent to a wooded area now a park where we were royally welcomed at the superb new Coastguard HQ before another harbour start with Coastguard vessel CYKLON in support. Our “homecoming” to Travemünde saw the fleet slow right down as the strong winds of previous days virtually disappeared.

Since the wrap-up of the 2009 event we have continued with vigour to look for new commercial partners to enable us to continue this great event.  We are in negotiation with more than one party and if we are successful, will announce the next edition before the end of January 2010.  However, please do not hang back if you have a possible sponsorship partner in your mind!

SAIL & RACE is also working on at least two other potential new events which could take place in 2010, so watch this space – we will inform you of our plans in this respect also, before the end of January 2010.

Whilst we await the official report on the sad loss of Sabine we can initially note some lessons on general safety, which include:

• the value of having a waterproof hand-held VHF on deck, and VHF-DSC (GMDSS) which automatically sends a position and identity if you need assistance fast.
• the value of an AIS transceiver to not only tell you where other vessels are but also to tell others where you are.

There will be more to consider in due course but there can be no substitute for training and contingency planning. Perhaps the Christmas break is a good time to continue that process.

In any case, on behalf of the SAIL & RACE team we wish all of you a most Happy Christmas and excellent sailing –hopefully with us!- in 2010.