A dream single-handed sailing race!

Hi everyone! 

In exactly four weeks, the weekend of August 26-27, I will be taking part in the Translémanique en solitaire regatta - a single-handed (solo) sailing race from Geneva to the other end of Lake Geneva and back. 

I will be sailing on s/y Jedi - a J/80 class boat from Yachting Club CERN, where I am a member for 20 years now. J/80 is an 8 meter (26 feet) long, modern design racing boat, seaworthy and very stable, with an asymmetric spinnaker.

The race course, same as for the Bol d'Or regatta, is long: at least some 80 nautical miles. If there is good wind all the time (very rare on Lake Geneva!), for a boat such a J/80, assuming a fairly optimistic average speed of 5 knots, the race would take 16 hours. To be more realistic, I am expecting to race for 20-30 hours - if there is enough wind to complete the race in the first place! The race starts on a Saturday at 9:30 in the morning, and the finishing line closes on Sunday at 16:00 (30 hours 30 minutes after the start). Clearly, it's a race that requires a lot of preparations, certainly some skills, as well as patience and endurance!

Photo by Enrico Bocchi

Just to present myself and my motivation: I am a keen keelboat regatta sailor and an offshore skipper since 25 years. I also enjoy planning, preparing and executing unusual solo outdoor activities - for example an unassisted long-distance 137km kitesurfing session in the south of France, a SUP-touring on a mountain river, or long exploratory mountain bike outings in the Jura. Taking part in the Translemanique was something I wanted to do for a long time, but couldn’t because of clashes with family holiday plans or duty travels - until this year. So I am very excited about the upcoming preparations, and obviously the race itself!

This blog is to share my preparations and learnings with fellow YCC members, and anyone else interested. Hope you enjoy reading it, and feel free to contact me with any questions - and also suggestions! Thanks - Sebastian