Strong winds, waves up to six metres high, but also a calm before the finish made this year's race around the northern tip of Jutland a spectacle. After the final calculations, the winners have been decided.
A total of 88 yachts had registered for the Round Skagen regatta. 55 yachts started, 30 of which made it to the finish in Kiel. Storms and heavy seas forced many crews to turn back.
The German Frers 80 yacht "Hexe" is considered the big winner of the Pantaenius Rund Skagen regatta. Norbert Plambeck's boat from the Cuxhaven Sailing Association was already ahead during the race, and for a long time it even looked as if the yacht would be able to beat the record time from the year 2000. This record is still held by Dr Klaus Murmann's "Uca" with 43 hours and 46 minutes.
The "Uca" won again in 2004, but did not set a new record.
The "Hexe" was slowed down by a lull on the last leg towards Kiel lighthouse, where the regatta ends after around 510 nautical miles. According to the time sailed, the "Hexe" reached the finish line after 1 day, 21 hours and 2 minutes. According to the time calculated for the ORCi1 classification for the large boats, it took her 2 days, 15 hours and 42 minutes. The yachts "Shakti", "Varuna", "Nixe" and "Dolce Vita" took the next places after the assessments were completed.
In the ORCi2 class for smaller boats, Harald Baum's Swan 48 "Elan" sailed to first place. In terms of time sailed, she took 3 days, 2 hours and 17 minutes (3 days, 0 hours and 48 minutes according to the calculated time).
All results under: www.nordseewoche.de (Prices, starters & results).
The regatta traditionally starts on Whit Monday on Helgoland after the North Sea Week regattas. The race is sailed every two years and was first held in 1932. Since 1994, Pantaenius has been the main sponsor of the regatta, which has since been called the Pantaenius Rund Skagen. In 1994, Pantaenius donated a challenge prize in the form of a large cast bronze sculpture, a Viking ship by Hermann Noack, for the fastest yacht according to ORC (Club or International, depending on which group is larger). The prize will be presented at the North Sea Week award ceremony on 1 October at the Hafen-Klub in Hamburg. Invitations will follow in late summer.
After winning two races in his class, the overall winner of the North Sea Week is Heiko Päsler from Cuxhaven. He first took part in the offshore sailing event back in 1968.
Heiko Päsler, a civil engineer from Cuxhaven, who was taking part in the North Sea Week for the 43rd time, scored again with victory in the ORCi2 group of smaller yachts. Päsler, who steers an X 36s yacht, already won the Cuxport Cup from Cuxhaven to Helgoland on Saturday (22 May 2010). He and his crew were the overall winners of the North Sea Week and were awarded the North Sea Cup. Päsler had already won this a few years ago. He started for the Cuxhaven Sailing Association.
Marc Bielefeld
Freier Autor
