Shanghai Weta Trimaran Cup Summer Final

July 2011

Friends of all ages gathered together at Dianshan Lake to enjoy a weekend of sailing, stories, sun, good food and of course drinks. Although the wind was light the event was a huge success!. The event followed a training weekend the previous month to ensure everyone’s skills were up to date so they could fully enjoy the racing. Differing slightly to traditional regattas, these events are aimed for enjoyment, involvement and constant learning. Close, competitive racing is a bonus – but is almost certain given the nature of the class. The lake is an ideal location with the course close to the shore for viewing and family involvement. Perhaps it is an event to mark in your next business trip to China!

Here is the full report from Markus Winter:

The weta cup summer final was held on the third of July 2011. The double handed long distance race took place on Lake Dianshan, located around 70km west of downtown Shanghai. The lake covers an area of 63 square kilometres, has an average depth of two meters and is home to lots of sea grass.

The organising team had some interesting obstacles to overcome when planning this event. Lake Dianshan has a busy shipping lane that runs the length of the lake, before the event started the maritime safety administration and two separate coast guard organisations had to be informed of all racing movements and a request to cross the shipping lane during the race submitted.

Also during past long distance events we have organised our racing buoys have disappeared, I suspect they have been put to work and are now used by the Shanghai fishing fleet. To combat this fixed buoys and other installations had to be organised and fitted before the race.

After much discussion the MSA did not allow us to cross the shipping lane and we were advised to keep our distance. Luckily we had plan a B, the race course was shortened and we did more laps. This change of course had its advantages; spectators had a great view of the racing throughout the day.

The week before the regatta the weather forecast looked great but as the event drew closer the predicted wind strength dropped and on race day the forecast was for 8 knots at lunch timedropping to 5 knots by mid afternoon, this made starting the race on time crucial to make the most of the best breeze of the day. On race day we had 13 Weta’s registered and a triangle course of six nautical miles set with three laps to be completed, the wind was blowing from west to south west and waters were flat.

11.00am - Race Briefing, Usual procedure. Three laps, all marks to be rounded to port, only double handed crews to compete, take enough water and don’t forget the high protection factor sun cream!

11.15am – Lunch time and fine tuning

12.00pm – Start

Yes, we were a bit delayed as not all the boats were not the water on time, but not too much of a delay.

This gave everybody who was ready time to find the right angles and starting positions. And what did I say in the Weta tips and class tricks a couple of weeks ago? Preparation is key!

I eat my words, shortly before the start my bottom main sheet cam block came off, the pin on the shackle must have been loose and came off completely. Bloody hell! Just before the start. I usually carry spares with me and I managed to repair it just in time. I fixed the block and we are ready to go, just 20 seconds before the start! We sheet in and speed towards the starting line. We hit the line perfectly, at full speed, in the favoured position. We have a clear start!

The wind was coming from the south east and all screachers were out heading for the first mark. We lead the race at this stage; it was great looking back at all the coloured sails trailing behind us. The leg to the first mark was nothing spectacular; we just kept our eye on the others and went straight to the mark. We rounded the first mark in the lead; it was Per Lindvall in “Absolute Swede” and Compton Tothill in “Takapuna” fighting for second position followed closely by the rest of the fleet.

During the second leg Phillippe and Mel in “Adios” found the best angle heading towards the mark, overtook us and gained a significant lead, which they kept throughout the race and went on to take the win.

Behind them there was a tussle for second position between myself in “Bora Bora”, Per in “Absolute Swede” and Compton in “Takapuna”. My nerves held strong for the rest of the race and with some good tactical decisions and help from my new Chinese crew we managed to get the chasing pack under control and finish the race in second place. Compton finished in third and Per finished in 6^th position, not clear what happened to him throughout race. The sea grass has to be mentioned, if stuck on foils it can affect speed significantly. Over the past few weeks it has been growing quickly in Lake Dianshan and had to be cleared off the centre board and rudder blade regularly during the race.

The leading boat “Adios” finished the race in two hours and 30 minutes, 17 minutes ahead of us. The fleet was quite spread after three laps, shown on the race results below. At the conclusion of racing everyone was exhausted; it was a long day as the wind got lighter as the race progressed.

The barbeque after the race was great fun, lots of discussion, drinking and smiles at all tables. Prize giving was sponsored by Wetamarine, Harken, SBYC and Elite Yachting China. All Participants received a prize from our chandlery; we also had prizes for our oldest participant, 64 years old and our youngest 3 years old. At the end of the day all tiered but happy faces around.

The weta winter final will be held on the 13^th of November, conditions are usually great at this time of the year and I hope to see more competitors on the water.

Again I would like to say thank you to our sponsors Weta Marine, Harken, SBYC and Elite Yachting China. Many thanks to John Chao for supporting us with his powerful rib, to the race officer Roy Sun, and to Raj Khurana for taking photos and shooting video sequences during the event. Not to forget those who could not participate in the race but generously lent their boats to others.

Finally thank you to all those sailors who showed up and made this event a success.