The feeder race from Cuxhaven to Helgoland, the Minox Cup, was characterised by light, shifting winds. Wisps of fog again made navigation difficult in this race. The first ship to cross the finish line was the "Haspa Hamburg", the JV 52 of the Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt e.V.
In the Wilhelmshaven-Helgoland race, the two X-79s drove each other to mutual success in the ORC Club group: "Circus Maximus" and "Frechdax" crossed the finish line off Helgoland with a gap of just four minutes after more than five hours of sailing time and also took first and second place in the overall standings. The other two feeder races from Bremerhaven and Hallig Hooge were also characterised by navigationally challenging navigation in often very poor visibility.
"The weather this year is like a wet trainers that I don't know what to do with," said Hinrich Franck, the long-time photographer of the North Sea Week. He made the best of the situation and found exciting motifs despite the grey weather: "The sailors defied the odds and offered exciting competitions."
At the same time, the sailors who had arrived on Helgoland with the Sundowner race the previous night started off Helgoland at twelve o'clock for the first race off the island, the Hummer 1, which is the second race in the Early Bird Series. This race was also repeatedly interspersed with wafts of fog.
"The rapidly changing wind forces and the very different wave conditions are particularly challenging for the sailors this year," said Stefan Lehnert, chief race organiser of the North Sea Week. "You can tell from the results who knows the area well."
The wind died during the Hummer 2 race. Some of the competitors got stuck in a wind hole and were driven back by the capsizing current until the wind from the island also reached them. In this race, the finish line was laid out directly in front of the pier at the south harbour so that the sailors had a short way into the harbour. All the yachts were moored in the harbour by 5 pm.
The athletes were compensated by the boot Düsseldorf regatta party in the Nordseehalle, where the concentrated sailing life collides and is celebrated until late in the morning.
