"Shakti" was the first yacht to reach Edinburgh this morning. A little later, the "Bank von Bremen" also finished the race, followed by the "Haspa Hamburg".
In the meantime, the crews have to tack against 6 to 7 Beaufort from the west after a wind shift. The sun was shining brightly, but the air temperature was only 10 degrees Celsius. The "Shakti" benefited the most from the shift, as she sailed the most westerly course for a long time and was able to make the longest approach to Edinburgh at the end.
"That was a wet journey. The boat is not really watertight inside. And then it sloshed back and forth quite a bit. But everyone survived the race well, for some it was their first time," reports Hagen Ross from the Shakti. He continues: "We calculated several routes and decided to sail westwards. In between, the electronics caused problems. We just stuck to our plan. In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, we were in the doldrums for an hour, and there was a very light wind for two hours. Then we had the gennaker up for three to four hours. There were 23 knots of wind in the warm front, so unfortunately we sailed it to pieces. It was a cross from 6 pm onwards."
The lightweight KER 46, built by McConaghy Boats in 2012 from carbon and Kevlar, is actually designed for inshore racing. The racer is very flat and has an asymmetrical deck layout. The boat also has some special features when it comes to manoeuvres, for example the gennaker is set with the grinder.
Whether it will be enough for an overall victory is yet to be seen. "In offshore regattas, our high space sheet potential is a big factor in the rating," explains owner Gorm Gondesen. Nevertheless, he is delighted with the new boat. "Compared to our Rogers 46, the Ker is much bitchier and likes to stick its nose into the waves, even though the bow is so full."
Behind the remaining crews lies a cold night with gusts of up to 8 Beaufort. Shortly after sunrise, the tide shifted so that the wind was against the current and an uncomfortably short wave had built up.
The genoa on the "Wappen von Bremen" broke during the night. As it could not be repaired on board, the crew abandoned the race, turned round and is now on its way back. The "Dessert d' Alcyone" also had to abandon the race due to a broken centre bulb.
On the side of the North Sea Week the Helgoland-Edinburgh race can be followed via race tracker.
Pascal Schürmann
Editor YACHT
