Ahus Windsurfing Club was this year’s organizer of the SC for Formula. Last time we were in Ahus was when they hosted a national ranking in 1998.

The forecast for the weekend looked really good, nice warm autumn weather with a breeze from the west. Offshore winds in Ahus. A couple of sailors came early and got great sailing on Friday with 10.0.

Saturday: Skipper meeting at 10.00. Gusty offshore wind 8-14 knots with a lot of holes in the wind. Very nice to see 4 participants from Norway, one from Britain and Latvia. 28 sailors in total. Five races were scheduled for the day 3+2.

Race 1 Really tactical and challenging sailing when it came to stay in the gusts not to lose planing. Many sailors had a really hard time to find the grove. The same sailors in the lead as usual. They had no problem coping with the light wind. Sad for Olaf SWE-52 who broke the mast top band just a few minutes before the first start of the day, the sail slid down to the boom. A better start in the SC can of course be desired.

Race 2 A difficult start when it was a bit light at the side of the start line. The sailors on the line took off nicely. Robert A SWE-13 dominated again and sailed safely home to victory in front of Per B SWE-92.

Race 3 Became a funrace when there was too big holes in the wind. Lunch break and a long hard upwind to the beach with very little wind close to the baech. Many experienced this as tougher than the race!

Race 4 A little more wind, a really good race.

Race 5 Again, difficult tactical sailing, most did it well, but some got stuck in a big hole on the starboard side. The first lap Johan SWE-64 was in the lead, then overtaken by Jesper SWE-76, and in the end Per SWE-92 was passing them both and took the victory.

The championship is home, 4 races with Robert Aberg SWE-13 in front with 3 first places.

Sunday:

Skipper Meeting 09:00, a little less wind in the morning. Around the same forecast as for Saturday, SW 12-16 knots. The AP came up with start scheduled at 11:00. Four races was planned for the day 2+2.

The sailors were very uncertain regarding gear choice on the beach where there was shelter and they could not estimate how much wind it was in the racing area. Many took their big sails to be safe.

Shortly after eleven the start for the fifth race. Nice wind over almost the whole course, some big shifts and a few holes that had to be avoided. Tight at the top, Per and Robert fought for first place.

Race 6 A little more wind now all over the course, the fleet became more compact when most sailors had really good speed on the first lap. There will always be closer when the wind blows a bit more. But after two laps, it is the same people in the top 10 pack.

Race 7 It was now quite bad with the wind again. Only 17 sailors go out to the start. Many sailors had become tired or had broken equipment. AP was up and a start was canceled before the wind came back. A lot of wind and very flat water. Magne NOR-4 sailed well and was in the lead a long time but in the end Per and Robert managed to overtake him, Robert was only half a meter in front of Magne. SC title would now be decided in the last race.

Race 8 Formula. The race was suspended after one minute when the wind dropped, after a few minutes the wind came back and we got away. Peter and Robert are fighting really hard for the title and sailed to one corner of the upwind leg, Jesper sailing clever in the middle of the course comes up in the lead and hold on to the finish and wins his first race of the event, and with the victory secures his spot on the podium as third overall.

It was hard at the top, Per and Robert had the same score but Robert wins in the end. Congratulations to Robert. Magne NOR-4 is in fourth place. Final results:

1st Robert Aberg SWE-13

2nd Per Boström SWE-92

3rd Jesper Kujala SWE-76

Many thanks to organizer AWC with crew and everyone else who helped with the competition.

More pictures – http://dala.jalbum.net/Formula%20SM%20Ahus%2026-27%20sept/

Daniel Nerhagen

SWE-31 finnished at 8th.