surf readers know Andreas Dachsberger from his legendary Défi reportage . In autumn 2022, the toughest surfer from Tegernsee travelled to the neighbouring Chiemsee for a windsurfing marathon. He wrote down what he experienced for surf:
It's cold, it's wet and it's dark when I set off at 5 o'clock in the morning. My dog Olli gives me the bird and rolls back into his basket. His master goes surfing. Destination: Chiemsee, reason for the stay: the Chiemsee Marathon 2022. Equipment carried: a Starboard Serenity, a JP Slalom XL, three sails over 9.5 m², booms no less than 2.5 m, masts no less than 5 m. The reader will recognise correctly: someone is going to a spot where no storms are expected - 100 points.
I arrive at the Regatta Surfclub Chiemsee far too early. Everyone is still asleep today - but if the wind is forecast, they sometimes start at eight o'clock - and until then I have to: check the situation, report in, rig up and squeeze myself into the much too tight neo (these things shrink massively over the years...).
Raceboards are clearly in the majority
There's no rush today. It's calm and the forecast is for drizzle in the afternoon. Perfect. Everything is very cosy. The pitch at the neighbouring campsite is free for racers. Most of the others - a total of 48 marathon racers from seven nations are taking part this year - have already arrived the day before. A great opportunity for a tour of the paddock. Equipment check: the youngest are on Bic Techno 293 - the strongest youth class in Europe. Then there are some windsurfers LT - the "Back To The Roots" class. The broad masses favour race boards - new and old Starboard Phantoms, new Exocet's and some old F2 and Mistral boards.
And then there are the representatives of the open class: foilers with metre-long carbon masts and ultra-modern carbon wings as well as the special displacement boats - affectionately known as tree trunks. These things are around 5 metres long and so voluminous that they could carry an entire football team across the lake if need be. When it comes to sails, the situation is more homogeneous: most people opt for 9.5 metre raceboard sails from Loftsails and Severne. Of course, there is also smaller material for the youngsters and up to 15 m² for the experienced men on their big ships.
The "displacer with foil" combination works really well between one and eight knots"
The wind finder (which, as the gentle reader knows, I no longer trust) predicts no wind at all for today and gusts of up to 15 knots for tomorrow. The choice falls on my good old Starboard Serenity, a NeilPryde foil with 1850 front wing and an ancient Arrows 11.0 sail (from the time when my brother Michi was still a sailmaker at F2). The "displacement with foil" combination always causes quite a stir, but actually works really well between one and eight knots. Below one knot, only the rider's weight counts and with my 112 kg I'm not exactly at an advantage - I'd rather go stand-up paddling with the thing. But above one knot of wind, I'm "the master of the lake". The wing doesn't lift the board out of the water, but it lifts it enough to noticeably reduce the wetted surface area - and off goes the Luzi. When the foilers and raceboarders start to slip at around eight knots, I'm no longer competitive - then all I have left is my beauty, my astral body and the prize for the most eye-catching combination.
The Chiemsee Marathon only has one buoy - otherwise it's all about the islands
The windfinder is right for today - no wind, just drizzle. Doesn't matter at all. Just relax and enjoy the hospitality of the people of Chiemsee. Malicious tongues claim that I only come to Lake Chiemsee for the food. That's not entirely true - or only a little. Here, the club ladies still cook for themselves - and how. They spoil you with exquisite soups at lunchtime and since that evening, even the foreign racers know who makes the best roast pork with red cabbage in the world. Cakes and lard sandwiches do the rest to take my light wind performance to the next level.
The afternoon is dedicated to small talk. Regatta organiser Fredi Dillmann introduces me to the secrets of Lake Chiemsee. The sea of Bavaria is around 80 square kilometres in size and is one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. That's why "Kini" (King Ludwig II) built his castle on Herreninsel - because it's so beautiful there. There is also the Fraueninsel (where it is also very beautiful) and the Krautinsel in between. (probably the men from the Herreninsel and the women from the Fraueninsel came together there and it was like "cabbage and turnips" - the author's own interpretation).
I should take money with me so that I can buy a Hoibe during the regatta on the Fraueninsel"
And the Windsurf Marathon goes around these three islands. That's a distance of 14.5 kilometres (I'm supposed to have 22 kilometres on my watch the next day due to endless cruising). There is only one buoy at the end of the women's island - otherwise the route through the islands is predetermined. Fredi recommends that I either shimmy up the southern shore, along the motorway, or work my way directly up the islands. There is no wind in the centre of the Chiemsee. And I should take money with me so that I can buy a Hoibe (1/2 litre beer) on the Fraueninsel during the regatta!
The Regatta Windsurf Club Chiemsee - the FC Bayern of windsurfing
The Regatta Windsurf Club Chiemsee is like a big family, explains Katja Deutscher, one of the best surfers in southern Germany and a fanatical club member. Although the sport is taken seriously (Regatta Windsurf Club Chiemsee is to the national surfing league what FC Bayern is to football - record champions), it's essentially about having fun with friends on the water. Katja acts as if she couldn't hurt a white fish - but watch out gentlemen - she regularly ranks among the top three in the Bavarian speed competition Speedkini and is the fastest lady ever to have crossed the Chiemsee at just under 30 knots.
Young member and over-50 racer Christian Stoll, who has been surfing for a year now, is annoyed that nobody wants to sponsor an over-50 athlete. He actually wanted to go to the Raceboard World Championships on Lake Garda this year - but Katja convinced him that it was still a bit too early for him. He can't ride a harness yet...
And so the afternoon flies by. Burgi Stadler, club boss and good soul of the Chiemsee team, tells me about the history of the Chiemsee Marathon. It was held for the 39th time in 2022 - more times than the Defi or the One Hour. Although the typical Chiemsee low wind prevails, there has been everything: up to 40 knots of wind, 2.5 metre waves and snow. But everyone still made it home safely.
Live music, old surf films and a beer tap - what more could you want?
She is proud of her club's excellent youth work. Regular training and excellent youth leaders are paying off. 11 youngsters (including three U15s) from the club are taking part in the Chiemsee Marathon this year and are also doing well internationally. - I can see how good they are live the next day. Amelie Huber (U17) wins the women's over all classification and Paula Karlotta Siebert (fastest U15) takes eight places from me. Chapeau.
When the evening comes, the party starts. In a specially erected marquee, the band "Powerjoint" (what a name!!) rock out absolutely first class. A film about the history of windsurfing is shown behind the stage. And in front of it, the "Powerjoints" play music from exactly the same era that is currently flickering across the screen behind them - brilliant. Not to mention that the Chiemsee team have their own beer taps - what more could you want in a Bavarian heart?
Raceboarders initially faster than foilers and displacers
The next morning, I get out of bed just in time for the skippers' meeting. Half an hour later I'm at the start line. This is a classic race. No rabbit start like the Defi or the One Hour. Flag signals show how long it is until the start - and off we go on the wild cross. The field immediately heads for the islands. They didn't get any tips from regatta leader Fredi! I thunder over to the motorway at around 3 knots. Only one raceboarder follows me. Free wind for free racers! Well, the wind isn't that good over here either - Freeedi!!! I have the impression that the field on the island is much faster - and that's exactly how it is. By the time I'm doddering back to the islands with a few more kilometres to go, the field is already around the windward buoy. The realisation sets in hard - I'm not going to win this thing!
At the front, the fastest raceboarders are already thundering towards the finish. Toni Stadler (multiple German team champion) is in the lead ahead of Patrik Pollak (Olympic participant for Slovakia). Neither the fastest displacers - Jakob Eckert and Matthias Golling - nor the fastest foiler Stephan Hecker were able to keep up with the pace of the top raceboarders. There was not enough wind for Hecker's foil in places and so he only made it round the last island in the chasing pack.
But then things take off: Hecker is the prototype of a "top light winder". Not only is he an excellent racer (successful in the DWC) - no lightweight can master the 9-power sail on the Olympic Starboard foil like him. As soon as the water ripples even slightly, Hecker takes off. And so he does now. Hecker shoots past the raceboards to the finish line like a Porsche leaves the lorries behind on the nearby Salzburg motorway. Second and fastest raceboarder is Toni Stadler ahead of Olympian Patrik Pollak.
The foil pulls through the water like a giant pitchfork
But I don't notice any of this on my way to the windward buoy. There are only two things that concern me. Firstly, the wind is picking up considerably - it's actually blowing at up to 15 knots and there's loads of driftwood floating in the water. The heavy rain of the last few days has washed old wood that has been lying on the shore for a long time into the lake. My foil is dragging through the water like a giant pitchfork and collecting branches. I have to stop again and again to free my foil mast from branches. But eventually I arrive at the windward buoy, round it and head for the space sheet.
But unfortunately not for long. My displacement foil combination has a maximum authorised speed of exactly 18 km/h. If I'm only one km/h faster, it happens: the foil lifts me out of the water! That doesn't sound too bad - but unfortunately I have about 3 metres of board in front of the foil mast. In combination with a board width of only 60 cm, this inevitably leads to an immediate re-entry into the water surface. In simple terms: it looks like Moby Dick - the white sperm whale - jumping 80 cm out of the water and crashing back into the water with a loud roar. 80% of these whale jumps end up in the pond for me.
And this time it comes thick and fast. In 15 knots of wind, I can still furl my 11-metre sail - the boat is travelling faster than 18 km/h - jump and wash. I'm gradually running out of power. More swimming than surfing, I can now watch the youngsters and LT riders pass me by. I swim into the lee of the Fraueninsel and then stagger after the field in the almost calm. When the wind stabilises again behind the Herreninsel, I'm able to catch up with a few LTs - but I'm a little embarrassed. 11m² against 5.7m² at three knots is not really fair - sorry guys.
Chiemsee Marathon - tougher than Defi and One Hour
After over two hours at the finish, I'm dead. Of course the Defi or the One Hour are also exhausting. But the Chiemsee Marathon takes its toll on my fitness. I rode 50% of the route with my 11er in my hand. There were only brief moments of relaxation in the harness on the cross.
I have just enough strength to push my equipment into the trailer. I'm so exhausted that I don't even take any of the cake on offer. No hunger - for me a 100% sign of exhaustion.
But my body calms down again at the award ceremony. It was great - it was fun. In 2023, the people of Chiemsee celebrate their 40th marathon. Foilers and longboarders of all nations hear the signal: grab your thunderbolts and let's go to the Chiemsee Marathon 2023 - it's worth it.
Text: Andreas Dachsberger
- The date for the 40th Chiemsee Marathon is 7 and 8 October 2023, information is available at surfclub-chiemsee.de
