160730 DAY1-2: SLOVENIA/PRACTICE RACE N OPENING CEREMONY (129 pict.)

We are not on the spot on day 1 for a "detour" through the cool part of Slovenia; such a small country with so many to offer to nature lovers...may be to enjoy on the west way back for some teams as the side trip is so short from Lublijana.

We arrived to crowded and hot Balaton lake,  a huge green waterspot !

Top welcome from the club in Balatonfured and in Tihany delight spot; but with no parking permit in regatta area and slow internet in Tihany peninsula, we have no other choice than to delay most of the albums uploading.

As the wind vanished quickly, the pratice race finished early for many teams , some with a cool swimming party.

160729-30 Balaton euro day1-2 71 pict.

Opening ceremony mixed 420 an 470 teams with a small walk in front of restaurants. Your smartphone guys, give many times better results than an old generation wide angle...

160805 Balaton euro day8D pricegiving 58 pict.

160731 DAY3: 3 races all 420 fleet (575 pict.)

A very long day in green waters of Balaton lake; wind catch up when the fleet came back on shore after a morning wait.  Then 3 races with a complicated, but 10-16k wind and a lot of surprises !

160731 Balaton euro day3A windward 54 pict.

160731 Balaton euro day3B windward (blue) 55 pict.

160731 Balaton euro D3C gate 112 pict.

160731 Balaton euro day3D finish 89 pict.

160731 Balaton euro day3E gate 80 pict.

160731 Balaton euro day3F 96 pict.

160731 Balaton euro day day3G finish 93 pict.

160801 DAY4: 3 races for all 420 fleet (171 pict.

)

Wind again on the lake, a bit more than yesterday but this time from early morning and this moved the green colour of yesterday in a milky result !

Races start at 10h00 and all boats came back to the dock before 14h00 to wait for the fleet share in gold and silver...6 windy races in 2 days is not so often the rule in Balaton summer.

To be on the good side during most part of the race...or not as yesterday make sailors very happy... or not.

Taking care about the impredictable and staying strong in bad result is also what you learn here, but

=> 3 competitors manage to keep all ranking below 10th

=> 8 more below 20th.

6 races can also bring a lot of change in next 4 days, but weatherforecast give very few hope for thursday and friday... 2 races coming tomorrow to enjoy the morning wind.

160801 Balaton junior euro 420 day4A 95 pict.

160801 Balaton euro day4B 76 pict.

Back to our dock in Tihany: More sails enjoy this Balaton surprising summer wind with the Cadet european championship hosted by the marina in front of our hotel.

http://cadetec2016.com/

160802 DAY5: No valid race Tihany/cadet/470/shore (86 pict.)

Fleet start a bit later and it took a lot of times to stabilize the markers as the wind continuously shift to the right; the commitee moved everybody to the east part of the lake to make a try...

The gold fleet could enjoy (or endure as top leader was almost last) one start and a first windward fight; then the race had to be abandonned as the very light breeze died and never came back. A few shots around Tihany,  of rare 4

70 sailing to the starting line and of east shore ll fill the day's single album where nothing change about the 420 ranking.

160802 Balaton euro day5 86 pict.

160803 DAY6: All 420 fleet for 8F and 9F

(211 pict.)

Wind is here early morning with a choppy grey lake.  Sun arrived later and this wind weakened and turned left during 8F . Reactive commitee save the race adapting the windward marker, but wind continue to turn left an the fleet sailed over the finishline with wind... from starboard. This race was validated anyway and create another disaster for some boats.

Silver and U17 fleet were launched for the 3rd race of the day in a apparently bit more stable light breeze.

To give an idea of the conditions, on open gold fleet after 9 races,

=>  9 boats managed to finish all races below 30th

=>  and only 3 boats not more than 20th !

And the party goes on... still 2 days for 3 races !

160803 Balaton euro day6A 66 pict.

160803 Balaton euro day6B 86 pict.

160803 Balaton euro day6C 59 pict.

160804 DAY7: All 420 fleet, 3 best on finishline (47 pict.)

After a long waiting on shore commitee sent all fleet a bit before 17h00. As yesterday, light wind shift to the left, not 150 degrees as during 7F, but enough to change course with a new windward mark.

Tiny album enclose few pictures with leader on finishline for memory. For better shots come back to DAY 3 as the long waiting help me to upload most of the pictures.

160804 Balaton euro day7 47 pict.

160805 DAY8: All 420 fleet,

finish line n prices (295 pict.)

A single race with light weather finished the championship, giving a bit of frustration about the expected fight for the 2nd and the 3nd places but also a lot of satisfaction for some guys with a bfd...

160805 Balaton euro day8A 90 pict.

160805 Balaton euro day8B 70 pict.

160805 Balaton euro day8C 77 pict.

160805 Balaton euro day8D pricegiving 58 pict.

balaton lake offer a lot: Fun offshore and delicious restaurants around

The result

The place

This regatta marks the final point of 420 Jim's international sailing and probably 420 pictures.

The blog ll change from now but ll sooner or later return to optimist years before 2013 back to the first dingy sailing in Hong Kong waters in 2009; check it sometimes !