Esse 850 goes offshore

After the winter break and extensive preparations, I tested my Esse 850 “JNYX” for ten days on the Wannsee before we entered the Baltic Sea one day before Ascension Day in Strande near Kiel. The aim was to “sail a little and take the boat the 70 miles or so to the first regatta in Travemünde” - very calmly, of course!

Well, what can I say - after a very calm Ascension Thursday, it blew for a week without interruption from the east, the direction we wanted to go. As I had also rigged the “offshore” mainsail with boom, I was able to enjoy the strong wind characteristics with all reefs upwind, but it also provided useful insights on the subject of “how do I tame my overpowered Esse 850 at 20-25 knots on the cross” - this was to pay off.

Once we arrived in Travemünde, we were lucky enough to find a new crew member in “Surfer Holgi”, who, with his well-trained muscles and very good live weight on the edge, contributed just as much to the subsequent successes as he did to his calm and eager-to-learn nature - a true competitive athlete.

The Brassfahrt (www.brassfahrt.de) with over 70 boats at the start was doublehanded and started on Friday afternoon in the usual 5-foot length classes without compensation and only at maximum speed. The first leg was a little over 30 miles from Travemünde to Fehmarn. In 20-25 knots and “overfreeboard-high” Baltic Sea waves, after a short gennistart, we went ahead for seven hours, whereby the competition could not follow us despite the first reef.

After just under three hours, we had caught up with the last of the boats that had started 30 minutes ahead of us, the Melges 24 of Silverrudder winner Matthis Franken and crew, and led the fleet out of the Bay of Lübeck to the north-east. Then it was 18 miles over to the former East German coast to Kühlungsborn, still in a sporty 18-20 knots of wind. Unfortunately, it was too peaky for the Genni and so we brought out our all-purpose weapon, the Code 0.5 (small Code 0, which is also used for upwind sailing in under 5 knots).

The speed went back up to over 10 knots, but after half the distance it was too peaky (or too windy) and we had to swap it for the jib again. It was slowly getting dark and a few of the big boats with significantly more waterline length crept up behind us.

Shortly before midnight and two miles before the turning mark, Poseidon simply turned off the wind, but unfortunately not the waves, and so we bobbed our way towards the nearby coast in 2-4 knots of wind and a partly beating main.

We were still doing quite well with the light boat and the generous sail area, but our mile-long lead from the last 12 hours was melting like snow in the July sun.

At the turning mark we were all together again and parked under gennaker at 0.5 knots BSP for 2.5 hours until we had worked our way out from under the doldrums. This was followed by an exhausting 3 hours of hard room-sheet sailing in shifty winds to “free” ourselves from our opponents and then finish the last 10 miles to Travemünde at the front of the race as winners. So the first victory was achieved!

Three weeks later, Holger wanted to sail even more, so we took part in the new Grömitzer Doublehand Regatta. This time, however, the conditions were more stringent, as the classification of the Esse 850 as an “offshore speedboat” meant that we had to compete against X 4.0, Dehler 38c and similar calibers in our group of the fastest.

So we got off to a perfect start at the pin end and tried to keep the field in check “from the front”. Of course, this only worked for a limited time, and so we followed the two fastest boats upwind for 8 miles until things calmed down a bit, only to then hit the cross to Neustadt i.H. at 6-8 knots and take the lead just before the buoy. The next 12 miles under Genni were then “Esse time” - we collected the groups that had started ahead of us and took the overall lead in what was now 16-20 knots of wind again.

After another 4 miles of wind, where the big ones were of course faster again due to the waves, there was a half-wind passage, unfortunately without flying sails and therefore little “Esse potential”, but we didn't give anything away either. However, the following cross of 9 miles at 20 knots became “a bit painful” when a 44-foot S+S Swan (albeit also super pimped) passed to windward, but 16 feet more and a nice fat S-frame in wind and waves from the front are hard to beat.

Our hopes were therefore pinned on the last 5-mile downwinder.

So we pulled the bladder in fourth place and set off again. Halfway through we were in second position with air behind us and the X 4.0 was getting closer again. Unfortunately, the bubble went down and the course continued at 60 degrees TWA.

However, dark clouds were brewing ahead of us on the way to Grömitz - and within 10 seconds the wind force doubled to a full 35 knots, the boat shook with the entire rig. Another two miles to the turning mark in front of the harbor and it was still blowing at 30 plus. We tried to contact the race committee on the radio to see if the course might be shortened. After the third call, we were suddenly told “...we're abandoning the race”! We were frustrated. Were they really going to abandon the race after nine hours? By now we were so close to the turning mark that we recognized the “S” flag on the finish boat and only had a short distance to go to the finish line in front of the harbour.

The rest of the fleet then made it to the finish with minor losses in the next 2.5 hours - and we had also won against the really big ones (in terms of length). The next day we accepted the new challenge prize.

However, I had to continue on the same day, back towards Kiel. Because five days later, the Aerö Rund was already waiting with a record fleet of over 150 boats. The weather forecast predicted a very fast 33-mile genni course from Strande to the north of Aerö, and from there a 10-mile cross to Aerosköbing. Let's keep it short: “JYNX” in solo mode with me under Genni, and although the ORC group had the last start, the 130 boats in front of us were gradually collected - until at 12 o'clock at night there were no more stern lights in front of me, but 150 green lights behind me! The last boat overtaken was a SWAN 53! The fourth boat across the line and the outward race was in the bag.

After a long rest in Marstall and the award ceremony, the return race was scheduled for Sunday. In 12 knots of wind (albeit more or less from the front), we were able to lead our group with a perfect starboard start and slowly catch up with those who had started ahead of us as the wind dropped. The wind dropped and we fought our way in a group with a Sunfast 3600 and a fast Class 9.50 to the gate after 10 miles. At some point the code 0.5 came out and the Esse came into its own! Unfortunately, I caught an 80-degree left turn on the “outer runway”, which the weather forecasters had not predicted, and so I had “a little more way to go”, but at least as an approach. So again a few potential overtaking victims ahead of us. The wind dropped to 2-3 knots and we pushed past our opponents downwind on the direct route to the finish in 3 knots BSP and were already in fourth place overall with only 5 miles to go.

And then there was another Sunday draw in the wind lottery and the shower cell, which had passed the field on the left without any effect, came back from behind and pushed the whole field together upwind and past! When I was the last one to finally get the wind, the layline also became a cross and the safe 1st place overall became “only” a 2nd place in the group.

A week later, it was Kieler Woche time and Holger was back on board. Kiel Week traditionally begins with the eel regatta for the sea-going vessels in front of the old Olympic harbor in the city of Kiel, so that the “sea people” have something to look at. As is so often the case, this time too with a brisk space sheet start. Due to our ORC measurement and the small CDL, we were sorted into ORC 4, which of course meant that we were on the line with many smaller opponents. Only the French, with a featherweight MACH 650 and very stylish Polyant TyraPly sails, could pose a speed threat to us. So the bubble went up at the starting signal and off we went with double-digit numbers on the Speedo.

Unfortunately, the ring of our Genni then separated spectacularly at 13.5 knots BSP. So Genni went aft and collected it first. Later we set the code as a replacement and chased after the French in increasing 25 knot winds to the turning mark out on the Kiel Fjord. We picked up a few of the larger “keel yachts” at a sunshine party, around the buoy to the wind - and there they were again, the 30 knots of wind that we've had so often this season. Add to that a “neat one-meter wave” and we were out of the comfort zone again! The main was beating miserably and the boat was already sailing through the waves in submarine mode again. So we put the reef in and things got better. However, it was still 18 miles upwind and downwind to Eckernförde. Six miles before the finish, the water became a bit smoother due to the land influence and we started to run again and collected larger boats like the X35 and others. In the end, we beat the French and won the eel regatta (so called because everyone who arrives gets a smoked eel first).

The return regatta to Kiel-Schilksee was more to the taste of the space-sheet-fast-sail faction. We had the last ORC start again and plenty of larger boats ahead of us to mark any lulls, as it was only blowing at 6-8 knots from diagonally behind.

Unfortunately, our spectacular starboard start was not yet crowned with success, as Holger and I had put the spinnaker halyard around the forestay when we tacked. But the nice thing about long distances is that you have time to make up lost ground - and so, jibe by jibe, we “sucked” our way back to the front of the group and showed our French speed sailors just how powerful a Swiss speedboat can be.

Good positioning and superior speed with our Genni gradually pushed us through the entire ORC field of larger yachts on the last few miles to the jibe mark and some of them were already complaining that we should “turn off the engine” when we were “overtaken”.

Around the buoy and with the wind picking up again 8 miles towards the fork flat at 140 degrees TWA what can I say, smooth water and we grabbed a few more 40 footers...

Then a short 2.5 mile cross finish at the Kiel lighthouse and the overall victory over all ORC boats was ours, even though we were “only” awarded in the doublehanded class.

The last regatta of Kiel Week was the two-part Senate Prize, this time not to Schleimünde, where everything had still not been rebuilt since the storm surge last fall, but to Hörup Havn in Denmark, 35 miles away.

The conditions were finally “calm” in summer and we set off 6 miles towards Damp with a genaker start at 7-8 knots. From there it was more of a downwind race with some light chop north along the coastline for 18 miles, during which we fought for every tenth of boat speed, finally even with code 0 just before the Flensburg Fjord.

We were in the lead in our cream conditions and fought boat against boat with a JPK 10.30, which had to be significantly faster.

After dropping off at the outer fjord and pulling the Genni, the wind became a little “changeable” with holes and the 6 miles towards Sonderburg became hard work for the tactics department. Things looked a little better under the Danish coast and after the trailing boats had caught up first, the last gybe was the big shot and the JPK 10.30, which was positioned further in the middle of the fjord, was decisively beaten and was a good 5 minutes behind at the finish.

So victory in the first part, but the next day should bring wind from the front - and except for one mile after the start, where we flew away from the field under code 0, it was only upwind at first 8 miles out of the Flensburg Fjord and the competition, which was 6-8 feet longer, took no prisoners. Then 20 miles upwind to Schwedeneck, where an attempt to make up some ground with the Code 0 was unfortunately eaten up by the handling disadvantage when recovering.

Another 5 miles upwind at 18-20 knots and a nasty Stoller ground wave and the advantage of the three others (J97, First 34.7 and J99) was too obvious. Behind the Kiel lighthouse, we went another 4 miles into the fjord to the finish, but firstly it was a bit too pointy for the A3 and secondly the battery was “a bit” empty even after 8 hours hanging in the harness. So the waves were pumped up a bit with the main and the best was made of the situation, which was enough for a calculated 4th place on this day and 2nd place overall. That's not bad after all the regatta victories this spring.

Conclusion: JYNX and the Esse 850 are now known as an offshore terror on the coast, the boat still has a few places where water comes in in rough conditions (when the waves get higher than the freeboard) - but as soon as a flying sail comes up at the front, the number of opponents becomes very small!