In Phuket it was not easy at short notice to join a boat on the Rebak Champagne Run 2005, finally Rainer Reinhard from Pytheas Aura offered me a lift.

At 10 a.m., February 26, Rainer, his wife Lek and two crew (Moon and Alvin) were on the jetty looking for a longtail to take us all out to Pytheas Aura. Finally, with 600 baht, Lek convinced one to move and Rainer said, "For this money, I can get back and forth to the Airport!". Just before the start, Brian Richter, who normally sails his own boat "Beyond Rotto", hopped on as crew.

With four other competitors in Racing Class (Stormvogel, Minx, Emerald Blue and Somtam Express all starting at 12:30 noon), we were dancing around the starting gate. Then a "Blue Peter" flag was raised, the horn blown and off we went! It was a perfect start, 11 knots of wind, all boats flying through the gate and all crews ready for the run!

I asked Moon and Alvin, "Do you have sailing experience." "No," they replied, "we are from the classic cruising side." Rainer said, "It's never too late for a change," and we all were laughing. All of a sudden Rainer said to Alvin, "Tacking, let's get ready to tack! Go to your positions!" Immediately we were involved in heavy sailing!

A few hours later, with our position off Panwa Bay, Somtam, Stormvogel and Emerald Blue were just ahead of us and just behind was Minx.

Brian said, "I pity the guys on Somtam. They can't sleep and must have sore asses. I recommend wearing a kind of a saddle, like bikers do. Otherwise, you can't walk and sit properly for at least a week!" Around 5 p.m., we decided to set the spinnaker. Our boat speed increased immediately from 3.5 knots to 7 knots. At this speed and against a beautiful sunset, we sailed into the night. During the night we travelled under light winds, varying from 4 to 6 knots.

At 6:00, I had a look outside and got a 'good morning' from tired faces. Moon, at the helm, could hardly keep his eyes open and Brian was checking the spinnaker. Alvin and Lek had just finished their watches and headed below. But Rainer was anxious... no wind, the boat bumping about and the spinnaker running afoul. However the other boats were not doing any better. We dropped the kite but all attempts at catching even a puff of air failed.

Around 9 am we saw a cat's paw and headed into it. Stormvogel's sails were already full, Emerald Blue's jenny was swollen and flying. Still our boat was bouncing around. Finally we caught the freshening breeze.

Around 9 am we saw a light wind coming up and tried to sail into it, Stormvogel's sails were full, Emerald Blue sails swollen up and it was flying away. Still our boat was bouncing around. I was praying to all gods of the water and wind; finally they felt mercy and we caught the releasing breeze. We were surprised to be so close to the other boats. For a while the race was neck and neck! But Stormvogel and Emerald Blue caught the wind earlier and took off ahead.

We were alone as we passed the finishing line at 1:00 p.m. and had to proceed to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club for a very anti-climatic finish. But we joined the rest of the fleet at Rebak in the evening at a grand and most welcome awards banquet...and, of course, our glass of champagne.