Last week our talk was from a member of our club, Rotarian Gareth Rowlands, about his experiences as a competitive ice sailer.
Gareth races on desserts and beaches using wheels, and on frozen lakes using steel runners using a type of yacht known as an International DN which is made from wood and epoxy. Competing in a world series, Gareth has raced in many interesting and remote locations, and choose to tell us about his experiences in Siberia.
The first challenge is transporting the yachts, 20 of which are packed into a shipping container and sent on ahead by train and lorry, taking around a month to complete the journey in each direction. Customs don’t know what to make of the unusual cargo, and it doesn’t help that spare runners are generally packed in cases normally used for transporting automatic weapons.
The destination, Lake Baikal, is six hours away from habitation and can see temperatures as low as -19 in winter and frequent storms with winds reaching 90mph. Safety is a priority with the course being carefully chosen and nobody sails on their own.
The event lasts a week with 8 races each afternoon shared between the regular and youth classes. Then it’s back to the hotel by the lake for ‘1 star’ accommodation and a food menu based on minestrone soup.
Whenever possible, on his travels, Gareth joins the local Rotary Club meeting for a meal and fellowship.