"Today we will have light wind conditions with winds up to a maximum of 8 knots." With Meeno Schrader, the North Sea Week has a real sailing weather professional at its side. "The wind is very likely to decrease towards the afternoon, which will increase the tendency for sea fog."
81 yachts arrived at the starting line of the Capitell Cup at 9.30 a.m. and presented a magnificent picture despite the hazy weather. 26 registered boats had preferred to stay in the harbour. Many of the Family Cruiser Cup participants in particular had decided not to take on these - possibly difficult - navigational challenges.
81 yachts in three groups can mean a lot of jostling at the start line: In an attempt to squeeze between the starters and the starting ship, a yacht collided with the very solid steel ship of the Danish Home Defence in the second start, fortunately without causing any significant damage.
As part of the Family Cruiser Cup, North Sea Week participants can gain their first experience, which was also demonstrated by the fact that one crew only crossed the line eight minutes after the start. Others used this race series to sail regattas with their families.
After rounding Helgoland, two up-and-downs were integrated into the regatta course. When the first yachts were in this final phase of the race, the haze thickened into heavy fog. As some of these boats were already on the finishing cross, the race committee was no longer able to react to the heavy fog.
To be on the safe side, the starting boat moored at the leeward buoy of this section of the regatta, also known as the "lift", and so the race committee was able to observe several times that participants were unable to find the buoy in the dense fog and rounded the boat of the Danish home defence as a substitute. Nevertheless, the last participants found their way back to the harbour by 5 pm.
"I saw no reason to shorten the race." Klaus-Thomas Krüger, skipper of the "Amuse Bouche", was right at the front. "You always have to expect fog during the North Sea Week." In the early years, the sailors had to find the island using a compass and directional radio, and some are said to have sailed past it. Compared to those first North Sea Week years, navigation has become easier today thanks to GPS and chart plotters.
Stefan Lehnert, Race Director of the North Sea Week, was nevertheless relieved that the event could be held in its entirety. "I was particularly pleased with the excellent and constructive cooperation with the authorities on Heligoland this year," he says. "The conditions were anything but ideal, but the participants demonstrated a high level of seamanship."
The heroes of the day in the cold weather were clearly the crew in the dinghies. With temperatures below 10 degrees and a damp, foggy wind, the fast motorboats kept the regatta participants safe throughout the day and supported the race organisers. In particular, the proper recording of the finishes would not have been possible without the dinghy drivers.
The first boat to cross the finish line was the 82-foot maxi "Calypso" after just four hours and 23 minutes. Among the family cruisers, local hero Torsten Conradi won with his "Esta". Ralf Lässig's "Xenia", an XP-44, won the ORC 1 group. The ORCi 2 group was again dominated by Klaus-Uwe Stryi's "Pax", which had previously won the "Early Bird Series". In the ORC Club group, Manfred Böttcher was victorious with his "Kühnezug Goldkatze". ORCi 3 was won by Jürgen Klinghardt's perennial winner "Patent" and in ORC 3 Club by Jan Schwital's "Coyote", a J 27.
