June 20 - afternoon

So today was the second day of racing at Kiel. It was pretty much the total opposite of yesterday, as there was no wind! We got up early again and launched at 9.15 for an 11 start. We got picked up by the Israeli couch and towed out to the race course, which took a full hour.The wind was about 3-4 knots from 280 degrees, then died, then filled from 20 degrees, then died, then shifted.... you get the idea. We tuned up and did some roll tacks and managed to get the spinnaker up and down several times. At 11 the race committee postponed the races and we drifted around. Every time the wind filled from a new direction we dutifully tuned up and tacked up wind a bit and then ran back to the starting area with the spinnaker, until about 12 when the wind totally shut off. The fleet drifted around and we passed the time by making friends with two Australian brothers who have their boat parked right next to us. They told us all about the predators that we'll see while sailing in Perth, which terrified Jen. Eventually the RC abandoned racing for the day and we all towed back in. The trip from the launch ramp to our parking spot in the boat park was hilarious, there were so many tourists and festival goers that it was a bit like trying to walk your boat through the PNE grounds or across the exhibition grounds at the Calgary Stampede. Picture us, boat in tow, in a hurry to get out of our smelly sailing gear, weaving our way through oblivious German tourists clutching giant sausages. The pictures below should give you an idea of the size of the sailing site. It takes about 15 minutes to walk end to end. We can only find our boat again by locating the GIANT Audi tent. A dozen workmen spent the two days we were setting up our boat meticulously applying the banners for this tent. They have around 15 different Audi's on display, including the 8 being used for trailer servicing, which have sequential license plates and whirr past us about twenty times a day. The one on display directly behind our boat is a Q7 with V12. This isn't the best part though. It is an auburn color on the outside, white leather interior with real teak detailing and inlay on the back of the seats like on a yacht. We have tried to convince the Audi guys to give it to us, but they say we can only have the A1. Our plan for the rest of the day is to continue working on the boat as today we discovered that it is leaking through the centreboard bolt! We will do this as soon as the storm cell which is pouring rain on us lets up.

Kiel Week