In 4 days around the Skagerak

Martin and I were invited by two of our Swedish friends to join them for a sailing trip around Skagerak. This is the sea between the West coast of Sweden and the East coast of Denmark. Hence, we emparked on our four day trip last Saturday (unluckily after mid summer's celebration) on their 43 feet Hallberg-Rassy. This boat is so comfy that Martin and i had to admit that it is more luxurious and spacious than our little flat in Melbourne. We headed first to Anholt (small island down South), from where we continued on to Denmark's most northern tip Skagen. Skagen has been particularly popular with painters at the turn of the last century, who came there to take advantage of the incredible light and atmosphere. Another impressive sight there is that the Atlantic and the Skagerak meet, so one can stand with one foot in the Atlantic ocean and with another in the Skagerak.

Tack so mycket to Bitte and Jonas, for the four wonderful days!

Orca pod spotted in Wellington harbour

You won't believe me, but last night, when running back from Worcer Bay towards the city along the scenic waterfront route, i saw a pod of orcas close to the waterfront.

If you don't believe me, then have a look at this video

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4767300/Orcas-on-display-in-Wellington

And if you still don't believe this, then listen to the story of this triathlete who encountered an orca during a swimming training session last Monday -- the orca looked straight into her eyes and then swam beneath her belly up:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4745863/Orca-encounter-unnerves-Wellington-triathlete

Please come an visit, this is a free national adventure park: swim for free with killer whales ;-)

Warm hug to all of you,

Stefi

Happy Birthday, liebe Emma!

Aus 18,491.605km Entfernung druecke ich Dich ganz fest und wirble Dich mindestens drei mal in der Luft herum. Anbei schicke ich Dir einen kleinen Kiwi, das ist ein fluegelloser Vogel und wird als das Wahrzeichen von Neuseelands hoch gehandelt. Leider kann man ihn nur ganz selten sehen, aber wenn man Glueck hat, dann hoert man ihn, im Gebuesch versteckt, freudig quieken.
Und wenn Du Dich noch ein bisschen geduldest, dann sehen wir uns schon bald wieder. Dann kannst Du mir die Haare ausreissen...

...oder mit mir Trampolinspringen...

...oder in den Streichelzoo gehen.

Also, heute moechte ich Dich nicht anders als sooooooooooooo gluecklich sehen.

Dickes Bussi von Deiner Tante Stefi.

Lookalikes

Dear friends,

do you spot the similarities? Do you spot the differences? (Hint: only one of them is a flightless bird from NZ).

We miss you all,

Stefi

Master Nationals at Port Stephens

Dear friends,

my friend Moni and I are on the best way to becoming professional sailors: In December we sailed the first stage of the World Cup that took place in Melbourne (Sail Melbourne, 11-19 Dec 2010) and in February we sailed the Master Nationals in Port Stephens (NSW, 11-14 February 2011). Please don't get a wrong impression. I am not excelling in these competitions (Moni, at least, always ranks higher than I do), but at least we are giving the evil eye to our competitors.

In Port Stephens we were supported by the Swedish sailing team and that was a great relief from pain (see photo of our coach below). I managed to almost sink another laser sailor at the top mark, after I arrived there in 9th position (out of 30). I sailed towards the mark on the port lay-line, having been exhilarated by the fact that I could count only eight boats ahead of me. In fact, I was so entrenched in my joy that I forgot all about tactics and rules and ran straight into an old men, who happened to have had the right away. In Port Stevens I learnt about the meaning of "Karma". In the second last race, in which I was well positioned somewhere in the mid-fleet, I was side-kicked by another inexperienced sailor. His boat torpedoed straight into me at the bottom mark, which not only traumatised my ear, but made me cap-size and fall behind so far that I could not see the second last sailor of the fleet anymore. "Well deserved, Stefi", I taught myself.

Here are the overall results from my division: http://www.yachting.org.au/site/yachting/event/33233/overall_6_1.html

and here are the overall results from Moni's:

http://www.yachting.org.au/site/yachting/event/33233/overall_7_1.html

Martin, as usual, was of great help. He helped us packing and unpacking and drove most of the 2400km of our epic journey.

When's the next challenge? Peace, please!

Warm hug to all of you, wherever you are.

Stefi

We didn't blow the roof again!

Dear friends,

this year our Team "Blow the roof" representing the Faculty of Business and Economics (University of Melbourne) in the 2010 Eureka Climb (http://www.eurekaclimb.com.au/, 88 levels, more than 1600 stairs, tallest residential building in the SH) put all its effort into defending last year's title of best corporate team.

However, we failed. Flags are on half mast and the overall morale is low. What happened?

This year everything looked so promising. Both Carsten and Paul trained specifically for this event and they were able to recruit again our rocket Hamish Beaumont. Even I myself was sure to be able to shave off 30 seconds from last year's result due to concerted training effort. In addition, we were yet again supported in our cause by kind donations. In the name of Whitelion and Interplast many thanks to Deborah Cobb-Clark, Ross Dunn, and Martin Gravare.

Nevertheless, we came "only" third. These were our times: Total 48min12sec, which is broken down into the following individual times:

1. Hamish Beaumont: 10:44
2. Carsten Murawski: 11:24
3. Paul Kofman: 11:26
4. Stefanie Schurer: 14:38

Overall, this was almost a minute faster than last year (49:08), so we should be really happy. Especially, since all of us except for myself, shaved off more than 25 seconds from last year's time. (Why not me? Because I am a lazy bum...and I was seriously ill the days before, but that, I guess, is never an excuse).

You can find photos of us during the race here: www.muac.org.au/lambstails/a-good-sunday-morning/ . [Photos 3-6].

So, what really happened was that the air got really thin at the top with pros competing in the same game! This year's competition was serious due to the invitation of an elite acetgory and the introduction of prize money. At stake was a trip for 1st male and female to NYC.

There was no way we could have won this race, not even if I had ran the same fabulous time as Hamish, the fastest not only in our team, but who had a comparable time with the Elite runners.

The best team was from the Victoria Institute of Sport (VIS), with two girls who ran each 9:34 and 10:29. Kimberley Crow was the fastest individual overall in the OPEN category. I should probably mention that she is an Olympic athlete in rowing and competed at the Beijing Olympics. She could have easily competed in the Elite category (which would have been better for us ;-). The VIS team ran five minutes faster than us. The second fastest team, GROCON, ran three minutes faster than us. No way we could have reduced our time by that dimension.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed the run a lot (I hope I can speak here on behalf of all team members). We meet today to celebrate the third place and discuss some serious strategies for next year's competition.

All the best,

Stefi (and Team)

City Sauna Sail with Moni

Dear friends,

my sailing mate Moni and I went to the City Sauna Sail 12-14 June 2010. This is an unspectacular, because of little winds, three day lake regatta on a lake that has 24 degrees water temperature all year round. Don't ask where the warmth comes from (Hint: power plant, see above). Say it loud and proud, Moni and I actually came into the top three two times (trophies!!). Final results: http://www.topyacht.net.au/results/2010/sauna_sail/otb/series.htm

It was rainy and muddy and luckily we decided to be posh - i.e. we preferred a motel over camping. Below you see our trailer loaded with our lasers (my office in the background), Moni and me at the prize givings, La Trobe Valley sailing club, and Hazelwood Pondage.

Life cannot be any better! S.