A Night of Many Firsts

written by Mike Bermeo  on  August 10  of  2020 and read by 441

Wednesday night series

Biking to my first Soling race in the heart of Rotterdam I was remembering all that transpired to get to that point. I moved to Rotterdam less than a month ago after living and sailing in Barcelona for the past two year. Having spent a long quarantine without getting back on the water I was eager to find a place to sail in my new home. After a goggle search and a few afternoon runs I found Kralingse Plas, where the Kralingsche Zeilclub is located. This beautiful lake in the heart of the city is full of boats on a Wednesday afternoon, watching from shore my only thought was how can I get back on the water?

Exploring a bit, I found the club bar overlooking the lake with a vibrant crowd where after a few questions I was pointed in the right direction to join the club. I quickly learned that the Soling crew were quite active and open to have share their love for the class. I had never sailed in a Soling but was eager to try, two days after my first meeting with the club reps I was lucky enough to find a spot on Bram's boat Brammy and joined for some Wednesday night beer can racing.

Biking to the lake that night, I was excited to get on the water but nervous for never having sailed this class of boat before. Bram was a great teacher, he quickly walked though the boat and after a headsail change, we were off to the races. On the way to the start line, joined by 25-30 other boats, we made a quick spinnaker raise, some jibes, where I passed my trial by fire. The racing was spectacular, having come from racing in the open ocean with small wind shifts the lake becane a whole new challenge. The fleet was very competitive, and any slip would make a huge difference swapping leads the whole race. The change in conditions was so stark that after starting last on a race, we were able to reach the top mark first to then go back to swapping positions the whole race. In addition to the big wind shifts and gusts, there was a fleet of 20-30 lasers and other dinghies on the water who were on another course but still an obstacle to consider when strategizing where to sail, a never-ending challenge. Toward the end of an exciting afternoon of racing, the wind died down while shifting enough to carry a spinnaker on the last legs on to the top mark, just to jibe around the buoy and carry the spinnaker back to the finish line. Having never sailed on a soling before, I was impressed at the angle you could carry a symmetrical spinnaker and how technical these boats where.

Back at the dock it was great to have a couple of beers with the teams, try to learn some Dutch and make some new friends in this new city. Watching the sun go down with a cold beer and sharing stories from the race was a perfect end to a Wednesday night. When I arrived at the club earlier that afternoon, Bram said “after trying the Soling you'll never want to race on another boat”. He was right! I look forward to being back many more


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