Mini-Transat: Two become three - Burke and Fink bring mini-sailor Jonas Kroner on board
Tatjana Pokorny
· 14.01.2024
Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink were just ambitious young mini-sailors with ambitious goals. Both had taken part in the Mini-Transat 2021 and attracted attention with good performances under their own steam. After his legendary storm ride in stage one, Fink even finished on the podium in third place among the series boats. The law student from Bad Salzuflen was only 19 years old at the time and used the springboard of the Mini class in spectacular fashion.
Burke and Fink open the sailing year in the RORC Caribbean 600
Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink have since founded their joint company Next Generation Boating, live together in a shared flat in Hamburg and have switched to the Class 40 as professionals. They achieved their first respectable successes here last year. In 2023, they finished a strong 14th in the Class 40 season championship with only three regatta participations included in the classification.
Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink will open the 2024 sailing year by taking part in the RORC Caribbean 600 from 19 February. They will contest the classic with a crew of four, which will also include the experienced Swiss Simon Koster and the aggressive Italian Nicolò Gamenara. This will be followed by the Atlantic Cup in the USA and other races over the course of the year, in which the up-and-coming German duo will not return to European territory until the second half of the year.
New milestone in the team's history
Even before the first starting signal for their own Class 40 campaign in the new year, the Burke/Fink duo have now set a new milestone in their still young team and company history. Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink have brought a third sailor into their team in the form of Jonas Kroner, who is just 19 years old. The newcomer comes from Schloss Holte, a small North Rhine-Westphalian community near Bielefeld.
Jonas Kroner has been working as a preparateur in Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink's team since the start of 2022. He can and wants to continue the Mini tradition in the Next Generation Sailing team and is looking forward to it: "The fact that Melwin and Lennart have given me the chance to sail the Mini Transat 2025 is really incredible. Sometimes I feel like it's all just a dream. But the sore muscles from the intensive and hard work on the boat show me that it is a reality after all."
4,050 nautical miles across the Atlantic is quite a change from the regattas I've sailed so far. You only get a chance like this once" (Jonas Kroner)
Jonas Kroner knows how much hard work and hardship awaits him: "The next two years will certainly be very special for me. I will learn an incredible amount and face numerous challenges. I'm very glad that I can always turn to Melwin and Lennart for help and advice."
Jonas Kroner continued: "Porky (Ed.: Master boat builder Markus Mehlen) I'm still learning as much as I can. You saw what can happen to a boat when Melwin's mast broke. 4,050 nautical miles across the Atlantic alone is quite a different story to the regattas I've sailed so far. But I'll give it my all - I owe it to Melwin and Lennart. You only get a chance like this once."
"Ikigai" to carry Jonas Kroner across the Atlantic in a mini-transat
Work on the new Mini has long been underway. Under the direction of internationally renowned master boat builder Markus Mehlen, the valuable new hull of the Vector 6.50 and another boat for a private owner are being built at the team shipyard. Until now, the project has been a secret, but this Sunday the team lifted the curtain. The new Mini and its future skipper were unveiled for the first time at the Paderborn Yacht Club's New Year's brunch.
Christened "Ikigai", the Mini will soon be serving Jonas Kroner. Five people worked on the boat for many weeks, sometimes up to 14 hours a day. The christening marks the start of Kroner's campaign under the umbrella of Next Generation Boating, which is set to culminate in the Mini-Transat across the Atlantic in 2025.
It is very important to us to promote young talent" (Lennart Burke)
"As professional sailors, we make a living from our sport and have a responsibility to ensure that this beautiful sport becomes even more widespread and well-known in Germany," says Lennart Burke about the expansion of the team. He continues: "It is very important to us to promote young talent. We want to give young, previously unknown talents the opportunity to show great things and to awaken enthusiasm in the younger target group."
With Jonas you can feel the passion for sailing in every fibre" (Lennart Burke)
For himself and Melwin Fink, says Burke, the premiere in the Mini-Transat was "an incredible experience and great training". That's why it made sense for the "Sign for Com" duo, who are now up-and-coming in Class 40, to give Jonas Kroner a great opportunity as a new talent with his own boat and the Mini-Transat premiere in 2025.
Lennart Burke says: "You can feel Jonas' passion for sailing in every fibre of his being. He lives for it to the full and puts everything else second. We were impressed by his tenacity and commitment. We are sure that he will rock it." That's what it sounds like when a very young team is already committed to promoting young talent.
Lennart Burke: "Of course you dream of sailing Imocas one day"
Jonas Kroner has been a team member since the start of 2023. Now he can show what he can do as a sailor. "We told him: 'Give it your all and make something of it. Step on the gas and learn something'," says Burke. On the motivation to inspire the young sailor, Burke said: "Sailing is our profession. We want to help it continue to grow."
Melwin Fink laughs and says: "It's going to be really cool! Let's see how it feels when you're a spectator yourself. I'll probably be able to empathise better with how our fans always feel when they watch us on the tracker and think: 'What are they doing?
A mini-transat like this is no walk in the park" (Melwin Fink)
Fink knows only too well: "A mini-transat like this is no walk in the park. Jonas will still have a few hurdles to overcome and setbacks to deal with. But we will be by his side and help him to prepare for the Mini-Transat 2025 in the best possible way. He will have to cope without us on the Atlantic, as the regatta will be held without contact to the outside world. But maybe he'll also be happy when he finally has some peace and quiet from us and we're not constantly coming round the corner with clever advice."
How is it possible for the sailors, who are themselves struggling to find a good budget for their Class 40 campaign, to additionally inspire a mini-campaign by another sailor? Melwin Fink explains: "The Mini-Transat is a big event. We are so happy and grateful that we as a company can afford to support such a campaign. Of course, this would never be possible without our great sponsors. It's remarkable that Lippmann German Ropes, Rotpunkt Küchen and Trans-Ocean e. V. are giving Jonas such a leap of faith to support a young sailor who is still unknown."
The kick-off year has been financed, further partners are being sought for the Mini-Transat campaign
The first year has already been financed. "For the rest," says Fink, "we are still looking for a main sponsor with Jonas." The entire Next Generation Boating team will "not only support Jonas in all technical matters, but also cheer him on together with the sponsors and keep their fingers crossed for him."
At the same time, Burke and Fink want to further advance their own careers and become a permanent fixture in ocean sailing. To this end, they will also be relocating their own shipyard to Hamburg and will soon be moving into new premises near Hamburg Airport. The long-term goal could be to move into the premier class of Imocas. "Of course we dream of sailing Imocas one day. But that's still a while away. First we want to develop further in the Class 40," says Lennart Burke.
Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink with their own stand and as stage guests at boot in Düsseldorf
Anyone interested in Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink, the Next Generation Sailing team and their plans for the new season: The sailors will be guests at boot in Düsseldorf on 27 and 28 January. The young stars will report on their plans on stage in the Sailing Centre in Hall 15 at 2 p.m. each day. The team will also be on site in Hall 15 with its own stand CO4.2.
