The regatta kicked off with two up-and-downs and a twelve-mile coastal race. "The wind for the up-and-downs was strong, but sometimes very shifty. Overall, however, it was manageable," reported race director Peter Doepgen.
In the afternoon, he sent the crews in both groups on a coastal race over twelve nautical miles towards Eckernförde Bay and back. "We had everyone at the finish line by 6.02 pm. It wasn't easy, as the wind dropped completely in between and then picked up again from the opposite direction. So we had the special situation that the yachts sailed off under spinnaker and later came back under spinnaker," says Doepgen.
In the large yachts, the only international yacht among the eleven participants showed a strong performance on the up-and-downs. The Dane Peter Buhl took two victories with his "Sirena". In the Coastal Race, he did collect a seventh place, but can currently cancel it out in order to stay at the top. There were two short ups and one deep down for the "Halbtrocken 4.5" of Michael Berghorn (Kiel) and his crew. Top twice in the up-and-downs, the 2021 world champions came last in the coastal race, but for the time being they retain silver ahead of the "Passion X" in front of Andreas Wulfes (Bremen).
In the group of smaller yachts, there is a familiar boat at the top. The "Immac Fram" of Kai Mares (Dänischenhagen) took the lead with two wins in the up-and-downs and a shared fifth place in the coastal race. The Mares crew was Germany's serial winner for many years, but had recently spent the season in the Mediterranean. "We only put the yacht in the water on Friday at Knierim in Kiel and trained a little over the past two days - as far as we could in the light winds," said Mares. "Our well-rehearsed boat handling immediately paid off on the up-and-downs. We are therefore very satisfied, because the time in the Mediterranean should give us another boost. But there is still room for improvement before the World Championships in August."
Behind the "Immac Fram", the junior project of the Kiel Yacht Club, the "Freya" with skipper Nick Heuwinkel, and the experienced team of Torsten Bastiansen on the "Xen" (Flensburg) take the places.
