The team on the J-97 "Ratz Fatz" with helmsman Andreas Rhode demonstrated in the Kiel Cup in the smallest class ORC III/IV what is possible within three years with experience, skill, work, perseverance and a constant crew line-up. The crew and boat have grown together into a unit that was unbeatable on course Alpha and won its group with aplomb. "We've fought hard for everything," says Rhode, "we've been sailing the boat for three years and are always learning. We took another good step forward here at Kieler Woche, but the main goal for this season is the upcoming German Championship off Warnemünde."
Dennis Gehrlein's "Silva Hispaniola" (ORC I) and Torsten Bastiansen's "Veolia" (XP38) won the two large Kiel Cup groups. Race officer Stefan Kunstmann, who received a lot of praise from the participants for his work, only had one race sailed on Wednesday on course "Alpha" in a good 25 knots of wind from the south-west and correspondingly high waves on the Stoller Grund. The "Silva Hispaniola" kept the two XP44 yachts "X Day" of Niels Grauter and "Xenia" of Ralf Lässig at bay in ORC I.
The team from Flensburg's "Veolia" fought an exciting duel with the "Sporthotel" on the up-and-down courses in ORC II. "We had to fight hard," said skipper Torsten Bastiansen, whose team had built up a three-point lead before the final and made everything perfect with the day's victory on the final day ahead of the "Sporthotel".
The duel for the last place in the Royal Ocean Cup off Bornholm in mid-September was also won by the "Silva Hispaniola" crew with their Kiel Cup victory. Tactician Dirk Manno was delighted: "That was incredible. I've never seen a crew work so perfectly together. Everyone on board knows what they have to do. You can concentrate fully on the sailing, the competition and the wind shifts," enthused the sailmaker from Flensburg.
The young crew around skipper Dennis Gehrlein dominated the somewhat lonely ROC qualification match against the "Leu" (One Off) of Claus Löwe from Kiel right from the start. And "Silva Hispaniola's" skipper was happy to return the praise to his Afterguard team-mate: "Dirk Manno is a very attentive tactician." The competitor for a place in the German ROC team also paid great respect to the "Silva Hispaniola" crew. "Great performance, great series. My appreciation. The boys will represent the German team worthily," said "Leu" helmsman Albert Schweizer.
This completes the three classes for ROC Team Germany. The "Rubi X" from Hamburg with Max Gurgel will start in the X-35 yachts and the "Patent3" (X-332) of Jürgen Klinghardt from Lübeck in ORC Group B. Both boats had already been seeded due to a lack of competition. "I think we'll have a good team at the start. It is important that there is finally a team event again," said Wolfgang Schäfer, Chairman of the DSV Sailing Committee.
The final chord on the stormy Wednesday was set by an Italian in German waters: Former Starboat sailor and Kieler Woche fan Riccardo Riccardo Simoneschi and his Melges 24 crew won the coveted Kaiser Cup in the race of all winners of the Kiel Cup classes. For Simoneschi, it was the cheerful and interesting culmination of his 26th Kieler Woche participation: "We used to have a format like the Kaiser Cup race with the kangaroo start in Italy. It's fun and very exciting. The ratings were very well calculated. Events like this are great for the spectators. The fights were close, we had a lot of fun. I always enjoy coming to Kiel, because this regatta is one of the best in the world."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
