This is it! I'm registered!

Well this is it! I've registered for my first Translémanique en solitaire regatta ... a solo Bol d'Or (www.syztranslemanique.ch)!

Having done a few double-handed regattas I thought a solo regatta would be interesting. Speaking to Luigi about his experience last year and reading his blog convinced me that it would be worth doing. The club committee swiftly approved my application. My thanks to Andrin for helping with the process.

First decision is which boat to use. The Surprise class is most common on the lake so it's either Mic Mac or Mamma Mia (MM). Thanks to Luigi's hard work last year, MM is equipped with an electronic autopilot which takes a big load of helming duties, provides more safety and gives more time to focus on boat handling and tactics. I will use MM for the Translem!

First task at hand is to check the boat. Found a few maintenance items to take care of before the regatta (spi tear, damage mainsail guide, electrical connector to replace, etc). Many thanks to Tim in particular and the maintenance team more generally for the very supportive and prompt assistance!

Next is getting the regatta sails stored at CERN's BA5. Access to the CERN site is very restricted due to Covid so I need the help of an 'insider'. Many thanks to Michal for arranging access to BA5 and sharing tips on his Translem experience. I owe him a foiling Nacra outing in return!

Now I have to get onto adapting the boat for solo racing and doing a few practice outings. Very happy to have Nathalie volunteer to oversee my practice and give very useful advice and pointers.