ROST II, ready for a new sailing year
Laurien
The first months of the new year have only just passed, and the new ROST is ready to sail in the van Uden KER 46. After more than 25 new sailors signed up for a chance to win the ROST II, the November to get the KER back in top shape. To get to know the new batch of sailors better, a kick-off was organized on December 7, after the butter letter. During this kick-off, match-race competitions were sailed in the two MaxFun 25 boats of our own association. The Elsa competed against the Sixties in several small competitions. The day was arranged in such a way that everyone would sail with as many different sailors as possible, so the teams changed all the time. Anyone who has ever sailed a match-race sailing competition knows that these are very competitive one-on-one competitions, with the sailors constantly challenging each other and sharp buoy curves and starts are disastrous. These situations require good boat handling, which can be tricky when a team is sailing together for the first time. Because there was a good wind of between 15 and 20 knots that day, this resulted in exciting situations and there was a hard battle for the win.
After the kick-off, attention was again focused on the winter maintenance of the KER 46. The winches were disassembled and cleaned and greased again, the mast stripped and resprayed, the bottom of the boat was sanded and put back in the antifouwling . With the help of Niek, the carbon specialist, it has been ensured that the carbon in and on the boat is in good condition. The engine has actually been serviced for 1000 hours and on a Friday part of the team spent a whole day in Belgium in a North Sails shed to get all the sails race-ready again. Fortunately, many hands make heavy work light, which meant that the KER could go back into the water in the week of February 7th. On February 15, the first training session was already planned with a view to the first game of the season, the Van Uden Reco on April 18 and 19. On to a good sailing year, the KER is ready, and so is the new ROST II.