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Adventurous offshore baptism

2020-08-09T08:10:33.495Z


Micki Liebl survived the first test on the way to participating in the Mini-Transat. In 45 hours he was alone from Barcelona to Mallorca and back.


Micki Liebl survived the first test on the way to participating in the Mini-Transat. In 45 hours he was alone from Barcelona to Mallorca and back.

Starnberg- Micki Liebl still looks upset when he talks about his recent ocean baptism. “That beats everything,” says the Neuried sailor, looking at his ride in 35 knots of wind, when the storm really developed its force over the Mediterranean. Liebl adds: "You are sitting in your nutshell and being shaken from left to right." It was not just the crossing from Barcelona to Mallorca that challenged the self-proclaimed "freshwater junkie" as an offshore sailor. The 45-hour trip from the Catalan metropolis via the Balearic island and back to the starting point mutated into an adventure series. During his personal qualification for the B license for the Mini Transat, the 55-year-old got a little taste of what awaits him in three years if he wants to sail from Brittany to the Caribbean (we reported).

There was the storm that did not frighten the skipper from the Munich Yacht Club in Starnberg, but it constantly pushed him to the limit. "It's like bull riding on a step that you can't be thrown off," says Liebl. While circling an oil rig on the second night, he drew the attention of a supply ship that followed him for over half an hour with its headlights on. In addition, there were a few handicaps that worried the skipper from the start of his journey. Since his Automatic Information System (AIS) only worked to a limited extent, he could be located, but the other ships remained invisible on his display. “It's flying blind,” says Liebl.

Especially since he wanted to take a nap every 20 minutes. On the first day this request was still hopeless. "The adrenaline and tension were so high that sleep was impossible," he admitted. The second day it got better. Liebl no longer startled at the slightest noise, but forced himself to simply close his eyes and trust that not every tanker will target his boat right away. “You then get a routine and can sleep.” This only applies if the sea is fairly calm and there are no waves as high as a house for a constant shower. “I don't know if someone has tried to sleep when they throw a bucket of water over their head every four minutes,” explains Liebl.

In addition, the team manager of the Bundesliga team of the Munich Yacht Club was confronted with a number of phenomena that are completely irrelevant on his home territory at Lake Starnberg, but have a decisive effect on the sea. Although he had stocked up on the best sailing clothes for such a company, the warm temperatures were so tempting that Liebl, who likes to wear lederhosen at home on official occasions, decided not to wear shorts. After hours at the tiller, the sun and salt water made the inside of his thighs chafed and burned terribly. “I underestimated the whole thing,” he admits.

Liebl had no illusions that he would get very thirsty on the high seas. The 60 liters of water that he had stashed in his Mini 6.5 was enough for the two days, although the salt water made him constantly thirsty. Meanwhile, he couldn't force himself to eat. "I had no appetite." When he got on the scales on his return to Barcelona, ​​he weighed three kilograms less.

Although the voyage got down to business, Liebl would have preferred to go back to sea after his arrival at the port. Despite all the lust, he also felt during his first practical test that there were limits to his project. “It's difficult for an Alpine country,” he says. Will three years be enough to retrain you from inland sailing to high seas skipper? The time he can spend on the sea is limited. The self-employed entrepreneur has his center of life in Neuried and needs 15 hours to Barcelona, ​​where his boat is anchored in the port. “The time factor is a big problem,” says Liebl. "That could endanger the project."

He is now even considering moving to Genoa in September after his first official test regatta (Barcelona - Marseille - Barcelona). That would save him seven hours of driving time.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-08-09

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