They are well known in the Swiss sailing scene: the two successful 470 Olympic sailors Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthaler. The long-time Yngling sailor – and winner of the Chris and Jan Harper Trophy 2022 – Jürg Wenger from Switzerland, was able to win both for a special regatta. He organized the event and was supported by numerous Yngling boat owners and sailors.
Here Jürg’s regatta report for the sailing press. All photos are from Peter Kupferschmied.
… a great success
On October 1-2, seven teams from five different clubs competed against the challengers Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthaler at the Lake Thun. On the Yngling, which was equally unknown to all participants, experienced sailors from all over Switzerland competed with the LIMA Sailing Team, the two successful 470 ladies who won the Medal Race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and thus finished in 4th place.
On the boats provided by Suisse Yngling, the sailors, mainly from the J70, 49er and 470 classes, found their way around surprisingly quickly. Thanks to the comprehensive and clear layout of trim instruments, they had the boats well under control right from the start and were able to sail two demanding races already on Saturday in challenging wind forces of mostly over 15 knots.
The agility and handling of the Yngling were lively discussed by the enthusiastic teams during dinner in the club restaurant and were judged to be comparable to the characteristics of the 470. The speed potential of the yacht is slightly below that of a dinghy. However, this promotes tactically skilful sailing and in no way diminishes the fun of competing within the standard class. Also, the amazingly easy launching and hauling out of the boats with any mid-size car was felt to be a plus for the Yngling’s racing use.
With somewhat more moderate wind conditions, three more races were held on Sunday and fought hard but fair for victory.
After the two leading teams were still tied on points on Saturday evening, the challengers Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthaler, together with Franziska Dürig (Thunersee Yacht Club), won ahead of the team of Massimo Soriano, Sereina Obrist and Alec Saeselli (Regattaclub Bodensee), and the third-placed team of Marco Bergamin, Simon Kaiser and Yves Voillat (Segelclub Stäfa).
Suisse Yngling presented the lucky three fastest teams checks worth CHF 500 (1st place), CHF 300 (2nd place) and CHF 200 (3rd place) to promote young sailors in their clubs.
Suisse Yngling is pleased with the growing interest in the Yngling and will continue to make it easier for interested sailors to get started in regatta sailing with various offers.
Participant reactions reflect the above:
“Together with Linda and Franziska, we sailed on the Yngling at the LIMA Battle and were able to climb to the top of the podium. We were rewarded on a very cloudy weekend with wonderful sailing conditions on Lake Thun! Thanks to the challengers, the organizers and the Yngling family for providing the boats, for a great event.” (Maja Siegenthaler)
“Thank you very much for the great weekend! … You certainly showed the Yngling class at its best and the generous invitation was much appreciated. You will surely see me again at the start of a Yngling regatta.” (Massimo Soriano)
“We had last weekend Gingerbread Regatta of the 470s, in which also participated many who were at the LIMA Battle. And we discussed again that it was a super great event, very well organized and a great confidence of the boat owners. Thanks again!” (Rahel Pfister)
And to a Yngling boat owner: “We had a lot of fun with your Yngling in Thun. Thank you very much for entrusting us with your Bazynga. We really appreciated that you took the time to introduce us to Yngling sailing.“ (Giulia, Timo and Moira).