I´ve done multiple articles up to now about the sheer booming Euroean singlehanded and doublehanded amateur regattas, namely the Silverrudder, Round Skagen or the Vegvisir Race. When the whole boat market right now is in a serious crisis, it specifically means that there are problems in selling cruising boats up to 45/50 feet. But there is a persistent patch of the cake that still has ist cherry on top. Flourishing, vivid and even growing: That´s the amateur racing scene with boats from just 25 to 40 feet. It´s a market share (albeit a smaller one) that is seemingly booming. The catalyst for this growing number of solosailing racers are exigent, adventurous challanges – regattas which welcome every boat, every sailor. Tickets sold out in hours, not inlike a Stones concert. The Baltic Sea is their arena.
Back in June the longest and toughest of these races, the Midsummer Sail, launched into the tenth edition. Just as the name suggests, it is taking place during the summer solstice. For many sailors here in the Baltic Sea, especially the Scandinavians, this is a very special day. I once experienced the magic of this date in Sweden´s archipelago myself and agree, that if you want to experience the charming allurement of the Baltic Sea, come here and sail in late June. But back to the Race: Starting in the Bay of Wismar, which is „just around the corner“ from where I live, it´s a 900 nautical miles non-stop race to the northernmost buoy of the Baltic, the yellow fairway float „Töre“. And this is not so much „around the corner“. A really tough challange. Now, with the setting explained, let´s talk to Marlene who finished the race in her First 27 SE – as the first ever German woman.
This was the Midsummer Sail 2024
Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING.com: „Marlene, roughly two months went by after the Midsummer Sail. Some time to contemplate and think it over. If I am now asking you what is the first picture that comes to your mind when I mention this race, what would that be?“
Marlene Brudek: „The endless days. Simply and clearly. It´s just an overwhelming, crazy experience to see the sun never go down. The light, the fascinating play of colors. It´s a pretty impressive natural spectacle. I am still absolutely enchanted, I must say.“
NO FRILLS SAILING.com: „Looking back now onto this 900 miles race, was it harder or easier than you thought it would be?“
Marlene Brudek: „To answer that question isn´t so easy, really. Both of it, I´d say. It was harder than expected because there were parts of the race when the weather became crazy! I´ve had to cope with very rapid changes of windspeed and wind direction. Tough intersecting cross seas which were killing me. Also long stretches of thick fog and on top of it days without any cell phone connection, which is unusual for the otherwise complete Baltic network coverage. And at the same time it was easier than expected in terms of commercial traffic and navigation, especially the TSSs and through the countless little islands. „Baltic Sea“ always sounds so small and restricted, but it isn´t really. In reality, especially the more north you come, it´s a wide expanse of water. You have plenty of time and room to cope with the new challanges thrown at you.“
NO FRILLS SAILING.com: „I know the Baltic Sea from sailing to be a pretty narrow, restrained area. There´s a new windpart every year, restricted areas and loads of traffic. So, it´s not that tiring and wearing to sail nonstop and alone in this high traffic area?“
Marlene Brudek: „Well, at least not for me. On the contrary, I´ve had a lot of fun negotiating my way through. It was increasing my attention and I like to make decisions all the time, questiin myself, re-think and act. It´s fun to think about the current situation and how to navigate the obstacles the safest – and fastest – way. Because afterwards you have something to think about, draw conclusions and learn from. It´s a big game of chess, if you will. And it constantly changes. More up north for example there are literally huge stones scattered on the seabed …“ (laughs)
NO FRILLS SAILING.com: „How did you manage your tiredness and increasing fatigue?“
Marlene Brudek: „I am a big fan of powernapping. Somehow this is a technique that suits me and I have only good experiences with this. So, just when it fitted the situation, meaning all was clean, no traffic, sails trimmed nicely and the boat was sailing along well, I programmed my clock timer and tried to get a 10-minute-power nap. This worked out just as fine for me during the race. To be honest, it worked out much, much better than I thought. I kind of went into my own flow … I have a very comfortable air bed on top of the saloon cushions. Going down, taking a nap and being back in the cockpit in case something happens was a no brainer.“
NO FRILLS SAILING.com: „Tell us about a normal race-day. For example, how did you eat – freshly cooked or Astronaut´s instant food?“
Marlene Brudek: „That´s easy with me. I just have the small Jetboil installed and prepare easy, fast but hot meals. This is mostly freeze-dried instant food for the main dish of the day. For breakfast I have Porridge, prepared in small day-portions back at home, power-bars, bread, apples and bananas for the snacking during the day. But also treats, like chocolate bars and – I´m sorry – potato chips. Nothing all-too special or big hustle. 900 nautical miles is a long way to go, sure, but it´s also not the Vendeé Globe …“
NO FRILLS SAILING.com: „During the race, do you recognize your opponents? Are you sailing in sight with other contenders or are you more sailing for yourself?“
Marlene Brudek: „Right at the start and during the first hours of the race, when the fild is still condensed we are racing each other, sure. It´s a tough fight for every single place. This changes of course. More so during Midsummer Sail when the conditions favoured the bigger boats and they over time moved away, the regatta became more a race against yourself. For me it was about finishing all the way to the end. But, of course, to finish as fast as possible.“
NO FRILLS SAILING.com: „Did you have a race strategy with all in, like weather routing and such or was it more like you sailed spontaneously with ad-hoc tactics?“
Marlene Brudek: „I was happy to go through a very thorough and detailed preparation with the skilled racing sailor Hendrik Kohrs. His advise helped very much to prepare myself for the race. During the regatta I regularly received weather updates for my routing system – I use PredictWind – which also contained his suggestions and advise. This worked out quite nicely but, and you know it, it´s the Baltic Sea, the regional and even local weather differed very often. In a sense that those rendered the wind predictions useless, either much much more or very much less wind than predicted. For some parts the suggested routes, which may have fitted perfectly in terms of wind, turned out to be unsailable because of the wave heights and patterns. In the end, I do only have a small 27-footer …“
NO FRILLS SAILING.com: „In general, what was your longest solo-sailing experience before enlisting in Midsummer Sail? And what fascinates you the most about racing your sailboat alone?“
Marlene Brudek: „Let´s start with your second question. I started racing singlehanded just because of the fact that I simply couldn´t find anyone who´d go out and race together with me. I live at the North Sea, so sailing means that you have to adjust to the tides, to the wind and of course the opeining times of the watergates protecting our little harbor. Also, finding people who are really into spending so much of their time for sailing is very hard indeed. Another factor may be that I am into wind- and kitesurfing for almost 30 years now, so I am pretty cool with doing stuff alone. Maybe I am more familiar with single-sports than with interacting with a crew. As for my racing experience: I take part in the famous Silverrudder since 2018, which is the biggest singlehanded sailing race of the world. This great event showed me how much fun it really is to do serious sailboat racing alone. I´m really into it!“
NO FRILLS SAILING.com: „Now that you´ve finished the longest of the solo-races of the Baltic Sea, will you be at the starting line next year or do you already have the next Mount Everest to climb?“
Marlene Brudek: „To be honest, as of now I don´t talk about new projects. For now I am really enjoying to look back and sort all the pictures, emotions, things I experienced. It was an awesome challange and voyage to the northernmost buoy of the Baltic! Finishing, finally reaching these coodrinates was such a heartwarming, emotionally overwhelming moment … seeing this little yellow thing from afar and then really be there to touch it. Unforgettable. And it was just a blink of an eye, a moment later, you realize that Töre is a dead end. That it was over. Kind of sad, really. I enjoy this very much – what comes next? Well, we will see … I do have many ideas in my head. Sometimes it´s a sheer hustle. But, give me a little time. I am sure that new exciting things will come up.“
Thanks so much, Marlene, for this insight into your Midsummer Sail race. As I am personally not all too much into regatta racing myself, I find it all the better to talk to people who are doing it. Much more with you, as you are sailing „my“ First 27 SE, which in return has a lot of nostalgia with it, reminding me of my own adventures aboard GEKKO. All the best for your future plans and now – enjoy a calm, nice winter season. I hope to see you again in spring or summer ´25, maybe then with another report on a solo sailing adventure.
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How to tackle your first sailboat race
The art of the perfect start