Ahhh, what a great week has passed! No less than four free days of Easter bank holidays this year – and just as if the Almighty knew that we were longing for the warmth of the sun and some clear blue sky, he made it possible. What a great weather! A few days before, Stefan, owner of the Omega 42 #401 WINDFAENGER, sent me a whatsapp picture: His proud boat on her rack, lined up to be craned back to the water after a long winter sleep.
This was a catalyst to take my kids and drive to the beautiful island of Usedom. Helping to bring her back to the water. Not without at least some little vested interest: I jump aboard any minute to enjoy this boat under sails! But there were some other, more serious thoughts behind it. With the first boat show coming up where the new Omega 42 will be showcased, our new website needs an update, picture-wise. But before we could hoist any canvas, it was time for some work.
Rigging practice for my own ownership
Of course, Stefan´s invitation on the other hand wasn´t without his self-interest too: Having to fully rigg the yacht after winter storage, a pair of helping hands was welcome. I didn´t grumble. Not that I particularly love to set up a yacht, putting in all ropes, mount the boom, put the battens into the sails and all that. But as an owner in being it´s never wasted to gather practice where ever I can, right? I mean, in less than a year I will be commissioning my own yacht.
You know what? Arriving at the pontoon of WINFAENGERs beautiful home marina I – again! – was astonished by her sheer size! I know a lot of yachts of some 12 to 13 meters length, but this one is so different: With a lenght/width-ratio of just 1:4 she is so significantly much narrower than modern yacht-types. This makes for an interesting visual effect, I´d call it: From afar she looks like any ordinary small sailing dinghy, the type, my kids are currently learning to sail with. But standing right there in front of an Omega 42 makes you grasp her whole breathtaking proportions! She´s surprising me that way everytime I see her!
Amateurish, yet no less impressive
Some three hours later we´ve had her sailing ready. The plan was that my kids would remain aboard, having fun sailing with Uncle Stefan. I would be aboard a supporting power boat, our „photo-boat“, to have a shooting with her. You see, I love the new website we´ve created for this yacht. And I am very happy having acquired the kind permissions by some owners of original Sweden-made Omega 42 boats to use their pictures. But, you know, I want to show our boat, of course! So, the idea was to use this shooting to make some nice, dramatic shots.
Well, the weather was perfect! Some 13 to 15 knots of TWS, no waves at all. Blue sky, the freshest of green at the sprouting trees. The famous northern German Canola fields. Awesome! And she sailed like noting: Nicely heeling, she sprung to life at an instand. After boarding our pciture base boat, our skipper had to put the lever on the table to make his power boat overtake the Omega 42, creating a huge wake. So much fun! And she is so beautiful, every perspective offers a different view. I took some 250 pictures, filmed sequence after sequence. But … well … I´m not a photographer. Not at all.
My pictures are amateurish, at best. No chance to put them on the official website! The pictures you see here, well, they are okay to be used in my blog. So, a bit disappointed, but also a bit wiser than before, I called a dear friend who is indeed a pro photographer. We will repeat our little shooting in a few weeks. Why this whole hazzle, you ask? Well, WINDFAENGER is going to be showcased in a big boat show for the first time. And this will be the first boat show appearance of an Omega 42 since 40 years …
A little bit of Omega 42 brilliance
You are invited to meet us (me too) aboard the yacht during ancora Yachtfestival 2025 taking place from May 23rd to May 25th in Neustadt in Holstein, Germany. This boat show earned itself the reputation as being the „Cannes of the North“: Traditionally with a very strong presence of the grand Scandinavian boat brands, like Hallberg-Rassy (our neighbours, actually), Faurby, Najad, Nordship or Linjett Yachts our neighbours to our other side).
After completing the little shooting, I reboarded from the power boat (thanks again, guys, for acting as our photo-platform!) and enjoying a little Omega-sailing myself. Again, I admired how powerful and safely this yacht was cutting through the water. Still, at least in the back of my head, I am pondering wether I´d go for Norlin´s original classic sails configuration with pinhead main sail and self-tacking jib or go for the overlapping Genoa. Stefan has both. But I want it the „old school way“ – selftacker only. And yet again even in those mild conditions, her gracious, well-balanced behaviour and yet quick sailing confirmed my choice.
So, how did you spent your Easter bank holidays? Did you as well enjoy a day or two off, sailing the first miles? Enjoying the sun, having fun with your kids? I hope so! May we all be blessed with a great sailing season! For me, WINDFAENGER and I will meet again in about three weeks when I will sail her along the Baltic coast of Germany to the boat show premises. Three days, intensive sailing. I am looking forward so much to this! Stay tuned for more Omega 42 sailing – and book your tickets to come and see us at ancora boat show end of May.
More related articles to this topic:
The building reports of my own Omega 42 yacht
Why I went for this boat
Racing the Omega 42, parts 1 and 2