Kieler Woche: Reward for patience was eel in Eckernförde
YACHT
· 18.06.2023
However, the first half of the eel regatta, the race from Kiel to Eckernförde, had to be shortened considerably in order to lead to the smoked eel. This is traditionally served on board to the arriving crews in Eckernförde. Michael Berghorn (Kieler Yacht-Club) and his crew on the "Halbtrocken 4.5" were the first to receive the reward. The 2021 world champions arrived at the finish with their Mills 45 at 3.22 pm, just as the small yachts were being sent over the starting line off Schwedeneck.
Instead of the planned 30 nautical miles, a course length of 10 nautical miles remained for the race after the race committee led by Eckart Reinke and Ralf Paulsen had moved the start from Kiel's inner fjord to the exit of Eckernförde Bay. In the moody calm, the first of nine starting groups finally managed to set course for Eckernförde at 1.35 pm. While the large yachts were still able to squeeze enough power out of the light breeze to make it to the finish, it became increasingly difficult for the smaller yachts in the later starting groups. "Right at the beginning of the last starting groups, the wind almost completely disappeared. As there was a counter-current out of the bay, the race came to a standstill," reported Ralf Paulsen. At around 4.00 pm, however, a light sea breeze set in again, driving the fleet along at pedestrian speed.
Long wait for the results
Michael Berghorn, who was able to celebrate the unofficial title of First Ship Home in the afternoon, was completely happy after the arduous start to the day, but was still waiting until late in the evening for the results after surveying. "Motoring out of Kiel's inner fjord was tedious and agonising, but then we were rewarded. We had a very nice race to Eckernförde. The wind picked up more and more and in the end we had nine to ten knots. We are very happy with our performance and were able to practise some gennaker manoeuvres in the jibes. It's difficult to judge what happened behind us," said Berghorn after docking at the outer pier of Eckernförde's city harbour. The long wait finally revealed that the Swan 45 "Katima" of Jan Opländer (Flensburger SC) finished twelve minutes after the "Halbtrocken 4.5", but calculated four minutes ahead of her. Berghorn's crew finished second.
Georg Hillebrand (Segel-Club Baltic) won the Doublehand classification with his J/99 "Juni98", in the Yardstick classification with crew Dr. Gorch Stegen (Wassersport-Vereinigung Mönkeberg) with the "Tina 4", Søren Jepsen (Kieler Yacht-Club) with the X-34 "Siouxsie" in the Yardstick Doublehanded classification and Falko Bruckner (WSV Uetersen) with the Contour 34 SC "Shamrock" in the Multihull classification with only two starters.
