blu26 - International Class Association

In honor of the blu26 10^th anniversary year, the annual Lake Garda Regatta Training from 6 to 8 April reports record participation!

Eight teams from Switzerland, Germany, and Austria - 35 sailors in total - joined Christian ‘Blumi’ Scherrer and Stephan Eder for four days of rigorous training on the water as well as ashore. The coaches pushed the teams to their limits! A valuable reality check ahead of the regatta season. Plus, the socializing in Italian settings contributed to an again memorable event.

The yearly training is an established, exclusive opportunity for passionate blu26 sailors to prepare for the season, upgrade their sailing skills as individuals and as crews. Often a much-needed benchmarking after the ‘winter doldrums’. Sailing Club Fraglia della Vela Riva hosts the crews and ensures a perfect home base during the training days.

Back on - for some in - the waters after the winter pitstop, initial offshore training routines helped the teams tune back into their blu’s and concerted maneuvers. Perfect weather and a great atmosphere ashore and during dinner at the Sailing Club set the tone for the remaining training days. Timely line-ups, up-and-downs, as well as spinnaker training were the focus areas identified most useful to the crews. The reliable winds are one of the great assets Lake Garda offers, and even the most qualified sailors admitted that due to the at times strong wind conditions spinnaker sailing was at the limit. A significant damage forced Team Hazel to dismiss the training on the leg to legendary “Da Umberto”, exceptional host of a traditional lunch break outside of the Sailing Club.

Many of the crews have participated in the regatta training consecutively, using the opportunity to position themselves sailing in competitive mode. But, successful sailing is heard-earned! Daily debriefing sessions and detailed video analysis helped identify the strengths, weaknesses, and improvement potentials of each team. Overall good progress was observed by the coaches in view of trimming, teamwork, as well as tactical decision making. For some the study of rule 18.2 B got yet special attention. All the crews were pushing hard during the final regatta, whereas Team Giachen Duos took the win home, with Team Cool Mama Austria second, and Celeste Blu third. The tight fights at the front of the fleets poured all sailors very quickly into the regatta season, noting the blu26 Swiss Championship at the doorstep from 20 to 22 April!

Huge acknowledgements to Christian ‘Blumi’ Scherrer, Stephan Eder as well as to the Sailing Club Fraglia della Vela Riva, for their hard work in realizing the 9^th blu26 Regatta Training camp.

Annually early spring, the blu26 Regatta Training is taking place on Lake Garda benefitting of best wind conditions. The training is a major landmark to help the crews advance ahead of the regatta period. The Garda area offers a sub- Mediterranean climate, mild and agreeable. The lake is swept by two primary high-altitude mountain winds, Ora and Vent, and other secondary breezes that make sailing on Lake Garda an exciting experience.

Learn more about the upcoming blu26 regatta season 2018 at www.blu26.org

Date:	Event:	Location:
20.04.-22.04.	blu26 Swiss Championship Zug	Zug
11.05.-12.05.	blu26 Cup Bayern	Bad Wiessee / GER
09.06.-10.06.	blu26 Cup Romanshorn	Romanshorn
30.06.-01.07.	blu26 Race Middelfart*	Middelfart / DEN
08.09.-09.09.	blu26 Cup St. Moritz*	St. Moritz
29.09.-30.09.	blu26 Cup Zurich	Zurich

*boats available on site