Dragon g Because of the pandemic, most countries locked down in March/April, with travel restrictions (entry quarantines) continuing through until the early summer and returning in the autumn. This meant the cancellation of almost all the early season regattas as well as the cancellation of many major events (which require the largest number of people to travel internationally). In addition, some Dragons, which had been located in southern Europe for the upcoming season, were effectively trapped there due to the travel restrictions. As things with Coronavirus came more under control during the northern hemisphere summer, restrictions were eased and some of the National Championships were able to take place, albeit with varying levels of restrictions. Most events had limited onshore socialising, or at least socially distanced socialising. There was only one Grand Prix event held in Villamoura with a much reduced 14 entrants, but locally a lot of Dragon sailors rediscovered sailing with family and friends and were able to find again some of the simple joys of sailing their Dragons purely for relaxation. Here we bring you reports from some of the national level events that were able to take place this year.
AUSTRIA National Championship, Lake Attersee The International Dragon Austrian Championship was organised by the UnionYacht-Club Attersee. While remaining very aware of the special circumstances caused by the Coronavirus, the club made sailing possible with given limitations. To follow security measures and social distance rules in the club, the entry was limited to 45 boats. 26 crews from Germany, 2 teams from Switzerland and 17 Austrian boats participated. Unfortunately, due to stable high pressure and very light winds, only one race was completed during the first three days. The first race completed on Friday was won by GER 1135 Philipp Ocker sailing with Constance Ocker and Oliver David. Second was GER 77
On Sunday, with rain and westerly winds, two more races could be sailed, but only three races in total were completed and four races were necessary for the Austrian Championship, so the title was postponed until next year. However, the winning team of the three-race series was GER 1216 Benedikt Gach with Florian Abele and Jonas Nissen. Benedikt won the ‘Big Race’ at the 90th Anniversary last year in San Remo so is no stranger to winning ways! Second overall was GER 1038 Matthias Glas with Manuel Hauptmann & Benedikt Binder and third place was GER 1153 Peter Froschl crewed by Nikolaus Stoll & Christian Barth.
to support this popular National Championship. The Royal North Sea Yacht Club in Ostend has a very good Race Officer in Dirk Sledsens and always produces a high level of race management on the water, plus a great deal of fun and camaraderie ashore.
The highest placed Austrian Boat was AUT 159 Karl Holzner with Rudolf Holler & Rudolf Mayer. Karl and Rudolf Holler had been a successful Tornado Team and Rudolf Mayer is a former Yngling World Champion. So, it seems that some new blood pushes into the Austrian Dragon community!
With only three races completed over the initial two days, followed by a weekend of little to no wind, all races counted. Winning crew Simon Fry noted, “Even though conditions were difficult we had a great time in Ostend. As we arrived early, we had a nice practice day before the Championship started and day one of the event also had perfect conditions with two very good races. The Race Officer was excellent, and the Belgian sailors really made us feel welcome. We will certainly be returning to this venue in the future”.
Ingo Ehrlicher, crewed by Malte Philipp and Thomas Auracher, whilst third was GER 1038 Matthias Glas, Manuel Hauptmann & Benedikt Binder. The highest placed Austrian team was AUT 159 Karl Holzner, with Rudolf Mayer & Rudolf Holler who finished in eighth place. Saturday saw no wind, so teams took to the beach to relax whilst the Club Restaurant had a great day!
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B e l g iu m The 2020 Belgian National Championship took place in Ostend over four days from 13 to 16 August, during a spell of high pressure which unfortunately resulted in just three completed races. This was indeed a great pity as 17 teams had made the effort during these difficult times
In second place overall just two points behind the winners was FRA 428 helmed by French legend Gery Trentesaux. After winning race one, Gery and his four-man team of Jean Queveau, Eric Brezellec and Christian Ponthieu recorded fourth and second to finish on seven points. Jean said “We are satisfied with our Dragon recovery after a 13-month break, we finished second behind Provezza [World Champions] and ahead of Pedro Andrade [winner of the last Gold Cup].” Third overall and taking the final podium position was Peter Cunningham helming CAY 9 crewed by Pedro Andrade and Charles Nankin. Pete, who is now based in the Cayman Islands, is really getting involved on the International
