Media LooserLu sailing on Lake Duemmer

[Merrily]

LooserLu has just explained to me how to tack in high winds, and I learned that he took a friend sailing as a birthday present last weekend. They are on Lake Duemmer in northern Germany. It looks cold, doesn't it? Here's some pix.

Merrily

 

[WestCoast]

looks windy in Northern Germany!

 

[LooserLu]

looks windy in Northern Germany!

Yep!
This Lake Duemmer is one of the biggest in north-west Germany (about 6,5 US-square miles), but the depth is only 2' to 5,25'. This is a reason for that you cannot see big waves there on the photos.
The professional sailing Laserites of GER have 3 bases for their business. One is at the Baltic Sea at the Bay of Kiel at the Olymic-village "Schilksee". There, they often have winds of force 6 to 8 and the waves are higher... Another windy area for pro-sailing Laserites is Port Warnemuende at Hansetown Rostock in the east-region of Germany at the Baltic Sea. Both, Warnemuende and Kiel have racing weeks for open sailing boats with thousands of competitors and they have to be able to sail in strong winds+waves. More heavy-wind you find in the Netherlands. When at lake Duemmer the wind blows with force 5, 250 miles to the west, at the Dutch lakes of the region Friesland (the area the LooserLu uses to have his famous Laser-summer-survival-camps ;o) ), it blows with force 6+... To be able to sail there, I have to train for at Lake Duemmer, that is about 65 miles to the north of my home.
The friend, Uwe, that sails my 46438 (last photo), was a former Laser-pro. At the day the photos where taken, he was sailing Laser the 1st time aft 20years. He was only 5-10 minutes on the water and his way of sailing was better than mine... only his condition was in a bad shape, to sail longer than 45 minutes in such winds. Sad, that he left the class in the mid of the 80ties. He problably would have been one of the best of GER, maybe at the level of Stefan Warkalla (during the 1st half of the 80ties, they have been sailing together in the same professional Laserfleet).
Aft this invitation to sail the Laser, he decided to sail again in 2006. Maybe also he returns to the racing scene; would be a good idea.

Ciao
LooserLu
P.S.: All the photos have been taken at Oct-16th 2005, the 35th-aniversation-weekend the "Weekender"-dinghy with the Sailnumber "TGIF" (Prototype of the Laser1) won her first race at Wisconsin.
Maybe thats the reason, my old Laser felt to be so dam fast this day... and also: if you have some imagination, at the 1st photo, you can add the condenstion trail and the sun to the Laserlogo...