Team Lek Win Norwegian Championship
From Nils Hauff of the Norwegian Class - The Norwegian Championship was sailed at Hankø south of Oslo last weekend. 26 boats including three from Denmark, Sweden and Finland got 8 races during the three days.
The sailing on Friday started in nice westerly breeze about 4 m/s. After the second beat a major wind shift made great changes in the positions, and the race was shortened. The winner was Herman Horn-Johannessen in NOR 418 “Rett rund hjørnet”.
The four races on Saturday were sailed in steady northeasterly breeze of 7 – 9 m/s. Kristoffer Spone in NOR 249 “Fruen Maren” won three of the races and got the daily first prize. After two days of sailing Geir Dahl-Andersen in NOR 506 “Lek” was in front ahead of Kristoffer Spone.
The last three races on Sunday were sailed in the same northeasterly breeze, but this day up to 11 – 12 m/s. In the end of the day the wind came down to about 6 m/s. Keith Musto helming NOR 366 “Siste Stein” had to retire in the first race because of rig problems. The Olympic Champion Siren Sundby was tactician in NOR 305, but they had to retire after breaking the backstay. Terje Kjær helming NOR 560 “Lycke II” won two races, but Kristian Nergaard in NOR 400 “Baghdad” was the best this day with 1, 2 and 4.
Both on Saturday and Sunday we saw some real fun sailing. Especially for all the new, young sailors in the class it was a great experience to sail in such a fleet in strong winds. We are in the happy situation that we see several new teams in the fleet this year, and will probably see more next year.
After steady sailing all weekend Geir Dahl-Andersen and his crew in “Lek” won the gold medals. Kristian Nergaard and Herman Horn-Johannessen got silver and bronze.
This year we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Melges 24 in Norway. Saturday night we had a great dinner at Hankø Yacht Club for all the sailors and invited guests. We were happy to see Tom Knutsen who was the main figure behind the establishing of Melges 24 in Norway. Friday night Kristian Nergaard invited all the sailors to a party at his summerhouse.
Best regards Nils