F18 & F16 German Nats 2018 held @TSG-W Lindau – Zech

German F18 & F16 Nats report sent by long time CSN reader & F18/F16/A-Cat sailor Johannes Kemler. Although I always reply to mails I would like to thank all the supporters and followers through these 10 years, specially those putting the time to promote their local regattas sending pics or reports. Big thanks to Johannes, Alberto Ballester for previous post Spanish A-Cat report, and all others, keep them coming.

On the racing, nice to see Bob Baier, racing F18s, former Tornado sailor and of course top European A-Class performer.  I’m seeing several A-Cat sailors now racing F18s, it might be the Class has becoming cool again, and recently much faster of course.

Also good having our friend Gill de Bruyne , Falcon F16 European dealer/builder, racing solo in the F16 Class. Read Johannes Kemler report below for details of the event & results.
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German Nationals in Formula 16 and Formula 18 2018 sent by Johannes Kemler

“The 2018 German Nationals in Formula 16 and Formula 18 were held in the Bavarian part of Lake of Constance as a combined event from 10th to 12th of May. The sailing club TSG-W Lindau – Zech, which can be seen as the center of catamaran racing in the big Austrian/Swiss/German Lake due to the enthusiastic work of some local sailors, was proud to welcome 33 teams to the event as the final highlight a Lindau catamaran week: The well-known catamaran regatta Katpokal for multiple classes with a big F18 fleet took place a weekend before followed by the annual F16/F18 clinic given by the former F18 world Champions Christian and Helge Sach earlier the week.

The event started with a really bad weather forecast for the first day: A lot of rain, wind and even thunderstorms were expected. But the race committee managed to do two races in better than expected conditions. In the first race the breeze was close to 20 knots, during the second the wind was already going down to light wind conditions at the end. In F18 class the always fast Swiss Andy Lutz and Raymond Schlatter (Falcon with Landenberger decksweeper) take the lead showing again the speed potential of a decksweeper main in the breeze and that it seems also competitive at lower winds.

The second day our Lake was showing his best side. Five races could be held in nearly perfect sailing conditions with the typical westerly winds at a sunny and warm day between the impressive mountain scenery and the Lindau Island with its famous lighthouse and the Bavarian Lion. Steady 10 to 12 knots during the first three races, less winds in the last two made possible tough racing in both fleets. Before the last day the result was still open in both classes. In the F18 class Manuel and Fabian Wunderle (Nacra with standard Performance Sails) could take a close lead over the new in class but well known catamaran sailor Bob Baier and his son Marc (Windrush with 1D decksweeper). In Formula 16 class the local Sailor Marc Kühn assisted by Carmen Wenz could hold the lead over the Gill de Bruyne, who was showing how to sail a F16 singlehanded in a competitive way.

At the last day of the event again the typically westerly winds occurs, but unfortunately not to strong this day. Two races were held, the first in around 8 knots, the last race of the event in steady decreasing wind making it a though mentally game for the leaders. In F16 class Gill could take the lead after a win in the first race, but Marc Kühn strike back in the last race: Winning this 9th race means also the overall win. In the F18 fleet the local heros Gerd Schmitzer and Tina Vercouteren (Nacra with standard Performance Sails) could climb to the stage with two second places at this final day. The overall win was open till last meters, finally the Wunderle brothers after a win in the first race of the day could hold a 1 point lead over the Baier family, securing the well-deserved title International German Formula 18 Champions 2018 for the young sailors from the Munich Yard Club Lake Starnberg!

Top 5 Formula 18:
GER 33 Manuel Wunderle / Fabian Wunderle (Nacra)
GER 15 Bob Baier / Marc Baier (Windrush)
GER 10 Gerd Schmitzer / Tina Vercouteren (Nacra)
SUI 10 Andi Lutz / Raymond Schlatter (Falcon)
GER 12 Kim-Patrick Tolsdorf / Vreni Vorderwülbecke (C2)

Top 3 Formula 16:
GER 2 Marc Kühn / Carmen Wenz (Falcon)
BEL 666 Gill de Bruyne (Falcon)
SUI ??? Dominik Leuthold / Stefan Wieser (Falcon)

Full results at club page: www.tsg-wassersport.de/index_htm_files/2018_IDB-Ergebnisse.pdf
More pics, videos and infos at facebook, will be published at the club homepage later.
Report written by Johannes Kemler
Pictures: TSG-W
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