1922 - 1st North Sea Week
The idea for this event was born in 1908, when the "Weser Yacht Club" (WYC) was commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II to organise the start of a regatta to Felixtown. However, the WYC's idea of organising a race on the Outer Weser was given the cold shoulder by the Baltic sailors. The sailors on the North Sea coast, on the other hand, do not find the Baltic Sea challenging enough - even though the Kaiser obviously seems to favour Kiel. However, many internationally important regattas are held on tidal waters. This is why the WYC and the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein 1922 are organising a regatta series for the entire coast. The new North Sea Week opens in the same year with the race from Oberhammelwarden to Bremerhaven. Day 2: Hohe Weg lighthouse and back around the Robbenplate. Day 3: Bremerhaven - Cuxhaven. On the fourth day, Whit Monday, the race then goes from Cuxhaven to Brunsbüttel.
In 1922, YACHT wrote: "The teams are expected to perform at the highest level in terms of seamanship and yacht management, and the participants are expected to train carefully so that they are in full control of their yachts. For the young men, this is the best opportunity to steel their eyes, strength and bodies for the benefit of our noble sport of sailing, so that a worthy new generation can emerge."
The regatta was not free of national interests at that time: "Let's go to the North Sea Week, so that this institution will be preserved for the future and be a lasting one. As a sign that a purely German sailing season is opening, let it begin on the only purely German river today, and let us express the hope that the other rivers wrested from us may soon become purely German rivers again."
Powerfully pompous words that did not fail to have an effect at the time. 35 yachts registered, and 30 went to the start despite heavy seas. There was a lot of breakage, broken jibs, broken sheets and even a broken rudder due to grounding. The race from Bremerhaven to Cuxhaven is then characterised by a calm, it becomes a light wind race. From Cuxhaven to Brunsbüttel, the start is decisive: it is not easy to distinguish between the unfortunately planned blasts in the harbour area and the planned starting shots. After that, there are few tactical options and postponements.
1923 - 2nd North Sea Week
The idea finds enthusiastic supporters. Almost 70 boats register and are greeted with stormy winds on the first day. On the second day, a picture-book regatta takes place in fantastic conditions, watched by an escort steamer with around 400 spectators. On the third and fourth day, the going gets rough and only eight yachts make it to the finish line.
1924 - 3rd North Sea Week
There are 135 entries for the third edition, although yachts with a waterline of less than six metres are not allowed to enter. And due to a three-month strike by shipyard workers in Hamburg, many Hamburg boats were not ready in time. Over four days, teams sail in 14 classes in the best conditions.
1925 - 4th North Sea Week
For the first time, Helgoland is the destination for the participants of the North Sea Week. Sea railings, radio direction finders, GPS, echo sounders - none of this exists yet. The island has to be found using a compass. The yachts anchor in the roadstead, while the people of Heligoland use motorboats to provide transport between boats and land. On 31 May, a welcome evening is held in the Kurhaus "so that the sailors who have arrived can get to know each other better". Heligolanders perform their national dance in traditional costume. The Heligoland fishermen donate two baskets of lobsters as an extra prize.
Anyone who sails to Heligoland on Sunday is automatically a member of the "Association for Awaiting the Awakening of the Dawn". Membership is strenuous, and one of the duties is to experience every sunrise - on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the day of the journey home. Meetings are preferably held at Lotte Laube's in the "Mocca-Stuben". The police hour is simply and cheerfully ignored.
1926 - 5th North Sea Week
"'North Sea Week'! Only those who have taken part in the event can appreciate what this word means for us sailors on the North Sea coast." "It may well be said that sea sailing in particular is especially suited to educating our growing youth to be disciplined and strong-willed men, as we desperately need them in our fatherland." This North Sea week is characterised by light winds and mostly good weather. The new, slim archipelago cruisers are sailing for the first time.
1927 - 6th North Sea Week
The North Sea Week is still starting in Bremerhaven. The welcome evening in the town hall is particularly festive in view of the town's centenary celebrations. Nevertheless, all 34 registered yachts start on time the next morning. It is calm, all yachts anchor in front of the starting line. The "Frauenlob" had bad luck, drifting backwards over the start line despite being chained. The yacht tried to come back for 40 minutes, but in vain. She gave up without reaching the starting line again.
Things were different back then than they are today: the North Sea Week lasts six days, Tuesday on Heligoland is a rest day, with no races. The spinnaker was still called a balloon. And the ladies also come to Heligoland with accompanying boats, as the prize-giving ceremony in the "Victoria" with "national dances" is not to be missed. Dinner and dancing cost 3.50 marks.
1928 - 7th North Sea Week
A race from Hamburg to Cuxhaven takes place for the first time, organised by the Blankeneser Segel-Club and the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein. The 30-metre archipelago cruisers are not allowed to sail as far as Helgoland, but they come anyway. Some of them with a female foresailor. Sensational.
1929 - 8th North Sea Week
Whitsun is early this year. Many boats, especially Hamburg boats, are not yet ready. Nevertheless, there is a new record number of entries. Doldrums, fog and foul weather characterise the first race. Sixes and eights take part in the regattas to and around Heligoland.
1930 - 9th North Sea Week
Dutch and Latvian yachts are taking part for the first time. The organisers are the Weser Yacht Club, the Norddeutsche Regatta Verein, the Kaiserliche Yacht Club and the Kieler Segler Vereinigung.
1931 - 10th North Sea Week
The attempt to organise a Hamburg-Cuxhaven race fails due to a lack of entries. The food and the prize-giving ceremony become more expensive: 4.50 Reichsmark. In the trendy pub "Pinkus", a harbour seal is said to have been sitting at the Eiergrog. Sailors have "taken it out" of the aquarium.
1932 - 11th North Sea Week
The Helgoland Prize is the most coveted trophy of the entire event. There is a fierce battle for the prize at "Rund um Helgoland": "Regina" collides with "Störtebeker" and "Störtebeker's" mizzen mast breaks. "Asta" loses the square topsail and later the triangular topsail.
1933 - 12th North Sea Week
The Ocean Racing Club organises a regatta from Burnham to Heligoland: 8 yachts register, 5 arrive on Heligoland. This is the first time there have been English participants. The "Round Skagen" regatta takes place for the first time, and the only time before the war. 5 starters fight their way from Heligoland to Kiel. The "Regina II" takes 108.96 hours.
Despite international participation, it sounds national: "With the rising spring sun, however, the German heraldic eagle left its yellow-stained nest and built a new eyrie on a white ground in a clear, tricoloured flag."
The weather is changeable: "So we played a playful, no less strenuous game with the light-winged messengers of the wind, playful in its variety, but strenuous in its duration, until the finish line, advanced or not, relaxed nerves and muscles, ..." Ed. Eisenhardt, Yacht 1933.
1934 - 13th North Sea Week
Knieper, the claws of the edible crab, are still thrown into the sea as by-catch. Only insiders order a bucket of barnacles in their room - with a bottle of sparkling wine.
1935 - 14th North Sea Week
"The highlight of the North Sea Week, the race around Heligoland, is very impressive. The green waters of the North Sea with their flashing waves, on which the Whitsun sun shines like silver plumage, many, many sailing yachts of all classes in rushing speed, pennant-covered finishing boats, rattling flags, in between Helgoland, the red Viking castle of the North Sea, also festively pennant-covered - if your heart doesn't start to leap, you can't be helped. In the evening, when the flashing lights and lighthouses glow over the sea and the dark steamers with golden portholes pass by, the celebrations on Heligoland are a joy." - These words by Gerhard Ludwig Milau in the Yacht 1935 testify to genuine enthusiasm.
1936 - 15th North Sea Week
1937 - 16th North Sea Week
15 English, 2 Dutch and 8 German yachts set off from Burnham to Heligoland for the North Sea Week.
1938 - 17th North Sea Week
98 yachts sail "Around Heligoland", 30 of which come to Heligoland from Burnham. Of the participants, 53 boats belong to the navy and air force. Of the 38 50cc cruisers, only one boat is privately owned.
1939 - 18th North Sea Week
Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, English and German naval officers as well as "private" sailors meet at the North Sea Week. Dutchmen are also present, including C. Bruynzell with the "Zeerend". Civilians are not allowed to enter the island, so the feeder boats and round Heligoland are quickly turned into a long-distance race without interruption - for most of them anyway: due to thick fog, some boats prefer to anchor between the dune and Heligoland, and the fire from the lighthouse cannot be seen. 57 yachts have registered, most of them cruisers: eight 100s, six 80s and sixteen 50s. Strong winds bring a premonition of the stormy times to come.
1939 - 1952 - Heligoland
Since 1939, Heligoland has been off-limits due to construction work. The island remains a bombing target until long after the end of the war. The British attempt to blow up the island completely fails. The sandstone is too soft and dampens the explosion. The result of the "Big Bang" is the Mittelland, a huge bomb crater. On Heligoland, almost no stone is left standing - only the lighthouse is almost intact. 210 depth charges, 2,900 land mines, 20 sea mines and 157,000 other explosive devices have to be removed before the island can be used again.
1950 - no North Sea Weekbut round Skagen is already being sailed again. 22 boats start off Bremerhaven. The fastest ship, the "Athena", is underway for 89 hours. In 1951, the "Athena" is again the fastest: 71.43 hours.
1953 - 19th North Sea Week
On 24 May, 51 yachts from Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven set off again for Helgoland for the North Sea Week for the first time since the war. Helgoland is being fully rebuilt. The race office consists of a construction site table and a few stools. Otherwise there are only barracks. Many sailors look wistfully for the old meeting places "Lotte Laube", "Pinkus", "Fährhaus", "Kaviar Stuben", ...
Hans Otto Schümann takes part with his Rubin and wins the "Helgoland Island Prize". The participating "Senta" is also a familiar sight at the North Sea Week to this day. Due to an approaching thunderstorm, the return races are started a day earlier. The "Rund Skagen" race starts off Heligoland again, with a stopover in Marstrand.
1954 - 20th North Sea Week
The feeder races at Südost are fantastic "balloon courses". Around a hundred yachts are later moored in Heligoland's south harbour, 51 participants and 45 supporters. The "Südkantine" - a wooden shack in the south harbour - is a meeting place for sailors and fishermen - the "Verein zur Schonung der Betten in der Morgenröte" (association for the protection of the beds in the dawn) meets there again.
1955 - 21st North Sea Week
The start of the North Sea Week, the start from Hamburg to Cuxhaven takes place at night. 80 keel yachts and dinghy cruisers start the 45th night regatta of the SVAOe. At 3.17 am, after an initially calm night, the Rubin is the first to cross the finish line in front of the Alte Liebe in Cuxhaven. On the same day, the Cuxhavener Seewettfahrt is sailed, starting and finishing off Cuxhaven. It is not until Sunday that the race heads for Helgoland.
1956 - 22nd North Sea Week
For the first time, there is a collision with a commercial vessel. A dinghy runs into the middle of a towed convoy at night before the Hamburg-Cuxhaven start. The small boat is damaged, the two sailors save themselves: one into the water, the other onto the towed convoy.
1957 - 23rd North Sea Week
Many "modern houses" were built on Heligoland, the style of which was already the subject of debate at the time. Sailors tend to view them negatively. They mourn the old pubs, narrow alleyways and corners.
1958 - 24th North Sea Week
44 yachts will start, mainly yachts in the KR classes. The new "Rubin" is also an 11 KR yacht. The feeder regatta from the Weser has to be cancelled due to a lull, sea rescue cruisers and water police take the boats in tow. The majority of the participating yachts do not have an engine.
1959 - 25th North Sea Week
There is thick fog off the Weser and the sailors can barely find Heligoland. One day later, the sailors set off from Cuxhaven with a north-easterly wind and bright sunshine. The north-easterly wind brought persistently good weather, but made the return race into the Elbe a tedious crossing.
1960 - 26th North Sea Week
The SVAOe night regatta from Hamburg to Cuxhaven is very popular: 70 starters.
1961 -27th North Sea Week
77 entries, 56 starters. A "stiff breeze" thins out the participants on the approaches to Helgoland on Whitsunday. The 6.6 CR yacht "Esprit" breaks its mast in the steep waves on the northern shores of the Weser estuary.
1962 - 28th North Sea Week
The perennial participant "Senta" is the only yacht to continue the tradition of the Maibusche in the Topp. The race committee is technically up to date: for the first time, an "electronic brain" is used to calculate the regatta results.
1963 - 29th North Sea Week
1964 - 30th North Sea Week
The "Hanseat" is the first GRP boat to be successful. The 24 KR yacht "Ashanti IV" wins the island prize with a record time around Heligoland. The "Germania VI" is brand new, but loses to the larger "Ashanti IV", which was built in 1954.
1965 - 31st North Sea Week
An anniversary: Heligoland has been German for 75 years. In 1890, England swaps Heligoland for the East African colony, or the Sultanate of Witu. And the people of Heligoland found the first club of their own: The "Wasser-Sport-Club Helgoland" (WSCH).
As always, the water police actively help with the regatta and provide 3 safety boats. The last of the "Rund um Helgoland" race receives a basket full of lobsters as a prize for their stamina.
1966 - 32nd North Sea Week
15,000 people are on Heligoland for the North Sea Week. However, only 81 of the 103 registered yachts arrive, as the cold and heavy seas take their toll. The idea for the "Edinburgh Regatta" is born at a party on the occasion of a regatta off Granton. Erich Böhm and Dr Meinhard Kohfahl (both from the Cuxhaven Sailing Association) stop off in Granton with the seven-metre yacht "Gaby" on their way to Norway and are spontaneously invited to take part in a regatta. Pearl Walker, wife of Les Walker (Royal Forth Yacht Club), comes on board as an expert on the area. At the party that followed, the idea was born to organise a regatta from Germany to Granton in 1968 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RFYC.
1967 - 33rd North Sea Week
112 participants off Heligoland. A North Sea week not without obstacles. But the sailors don't let doldrums, break-offs, fog and surveying disputes spoil the atmosphere in the new North Sea Hall.
1968 - 34th North Sea Week
"Dorothee" - built by Burmester in Bremen in 1969 - wins the Island Prize for the fifth time and is still the most successful yacht of the North Sea Week. The first "Edinburgh Regatta" takes place.
1969 - 35th North Sea Week
"Diana II" dominates the regattas again and wins many prizes.
1970 - 36th North Sea Week
"Round Skagen" shows its stormy side: 13 of 46 yachts give up. Jürgen Reinecke's "Rank", a self-built IW31, a series IOR half-tonner, wins.
1971 - 37th North Sea Week
Bureaucracy sends its regards: the regattas around Heligoland are cancelled due to the expansion of the east pier - it is agreed that no "battlers" are allowed to come. Of course, this doesn't work: out of 255 yachts in the harbour, only 128 are taking part in the regatta.
1972 - 38th North Sea Week
Quarter-tonne trucks are becoming increasingly popular. Many young designers try their hand at this class and establish themselves. The rest day on Helgoland is cancelled. Michael "Schmiddel" Schmidt wins with a Shark 24 around Helgoland. If coastal gossip is to be believed, the railing was made from sawn-off broomsticks.
1973 - 39th North Sea Week
153 ships take part in the "Rund um Helgoland" regatta. It is the elimination for the Admiral's Cup. The weather is stormy, but the sailors are unimpressed: at 8 Beaufort, they are still sailing under sail at night. Heligoland is the centre of German offshore sailing. And the ocean sailors are successful: for the first time, a German team - "Saudade", "Rubin", "Carina III" - wins the unofficial world championship in summer ocean sailing.
It remains stormy: the "Diana III" with skipper Harald Baum sets a new record at Skagen Rund: 55.02 hours.
1974 - 40th North Sea Week
Foreign competition from Holland and Sweden emphasises the importance of the North Sea Week for sea sailing. Many new IOR designs have their first outing here: "Vineta", "Rubin", "Jan Pott", "Windliese", ...
1975 - 41st North Sea Week
131 yachts and Admiral's Cup competitions. Winning the Admiral's Cup in 1973 brings the NDR to the island, resulting in several reports - in the 3rd programme. The race organisers do not have a happy hand and face harsh criticism. The one-tonner "Gumboots" wins almost all the races. Only twelve of the 36 yachts survive the following 520 miles of "Rund Skagen". 14 boats turn back shortly after the start in gusts up to 10, four boats suffer mast breakage.
1976 - 42nd North Sea Week
Dream weather. IOR series ships are among the front runners. And 60 yachts and ten youth sailing cutters take part in the first feeder race from Hamburg to Cuxhaven.
1977 - 43rd North Sea Week
The "Düsseldorfer Yacht-Club" joins the circle of North Sea Week organisers. For the first time, a Sprinta Sport - an IOR single-class yacht just seven metres in length - takes part in the North Sea Week. Helgoland welcomes the participants with 7 Beaufort and a high, breaking sea bed, but there are no cancellations among the IOR Admiral's Cuppers. "Champagne" with Berend Beilken dominates the Admiral's Cup competitions. The "Gaviota" loses the overall victory in the 3/4 tonners because all winch cranks fall overboard on the last triangle.
1978 - 44th North Sea Week
Bad luck with the weather. There has never been a week with such a pronounced doldrum. Michael Schmidt is extremely successful in the few races with the "Dokumentation": nine prizes prompt him to call for a porter at the prize-giving ceremony. The North Sea Week is one of the qualifying regattas for the Sardinia Cup.
1979 - 45th North Sea Week
19 Admiral's Cupper crews are fighting for the three team places. But the decision will be made later at Kieler Woche. 600 boats are moored in Heligoland's inner harbour. "Tina I-Punkt" shines with a spinnaker hoisted on the clew, causing hilarity. The young up-and-coming designers Judel & Vrojijk shine with their 1/2-tonner "Crew" and the 1/4-tonner "Quadriga". The "Heat Wave" has a mega mishap: the forestay breaks, the mast comes down from above, a sheet becomes entangled in the propeller, a wing smashes the viewing window in the bottom of the hull, the rescue cruiser's engine fails and it collides with the shipwrecked vessel.
The Admiral's Cup team "Jan Pott", "Rubin" and "Tina I-Punkt" later took part in the infamous hurricane Fastnet Race. Encouraged by the previous years of good weather, over 300 boats are at the start. 20 people die in the storm. At first, the light regatta boats are blamed. But the factual analysis of the catastrophe is unexpected: there is a lot of damage among the light IOR regatta boats, but no fatalities. The main causes were inexperienced crews and poor safety equipment.
1980 - 46th North Sea Week
460 boats are moored in the Helgoland harbour, most of them are racing boats. 15 Sprinta Sports make up the largest single class. In general, it is the big regatta season for Dehler yachts: With the "DB1", a series-built boat dominates the 3/4-tonne class. The "Kühnezug-Scorpion", an unusual Feltz steel yacht with an attached rudder, causes a stir, but does not sail successfully.
1981 - 47th North Sea Week
Ten races, five long distances, five triangles as part of the North Sea Week serve to qualify for the Admiral's Cup.
1982 - 48th North Sea Week
Feeder with force 6 winds from the north-west. Despite this, 605 yachts are moored in the harbour and are rewarded with great regattas in fantastic weather.
1983 - 49th North Sea Week
The German team "Sabina", "Outsider" and "Pinta" wins the Admiral's Cup after qualifying at the North Sea Week.
1984 - 50th North Sea Week
The "IOR Establishment" is spread across the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea. But the new yardstick classification proves to be an attractive idea. Shower prices of 5 marks lead to booing at the prize-giving ceremony.
1985 - 51st North Sea Week
141 yachts sail "Around Heligoland". The result of the Admiral's Cup elimination: With the yachts "Outsider", "Rubin VIII" and "Diva", the Admiral's Cup is in German hands for the third time.
1986 - 52nd North Sea Week
Hamburg-Cuxhaven: The youth cutters are already timed at the mouth of the Störmündung for safety reasons due to strong winds. The windy start is followed by flat offshore races. Heligoland harbour is so full that a red traffic light is being considered to block access when 350 yachts are in the harbour.
1987 - 53rd North Sea Week
A twelve-seater, the "Uwa", is the fastest ship from Helgoland to Cuxhaven, sailed and calculated. The yacht had already competed for the America's Cup as the "Servige". For the first time, the results are also calculated according to IMS. A marquee will be set up for the sailors on Heligoland and there will be a mast and sail repair service. The harbour fee is paid by the ship's chandler Hans Rickmers.
1988 - 54th North Sea Week
At the start of the North Sea Week, the former lightship "Reserve Sonderburg" is christened "Alexander von Humboldt" after being converted into a three-masted barque. The cuppers are missing - the boats are in the Mediterranean preparing for the Sardinia Cup. IMS is under discussion, the results differ greatly from IOR.
1989 - 55th North Sea Week
The IOR scene is dying. Tom Ross, multiple winner of the Admiral's Cup on the boats "Outsider", "Diva" and "New Yorker", on the reasons: "The IOR formula was too fast-moving. The boats were hazardous waste after a year." The North Sea Week reacts: The SVAOe's "Commodore's Cup" yardstick prize is intended to attract cruising yachts to the North Sea Week. The 36 DB from Dehler scores as an IMS series ship.
1990 - 56th North Sea Week
Heligoland is 100 years German and celebrates like crazy.
1991 - 57th North Sea Week
The previous year's activities and celebrations have an effect: 183 entries. But Cuxhaven-Helgoland is cancelled due to a calm. The Formula 1 racer "Beck's" sails out of competition: 52 feet, only 5.7 tonnes. Only the top regatta boats, the Admiral's Cuppers and 3/4-tonne boats still sail according to the IOR formula. "Rubin" dominates. IMS is becoming increasingly popular with "normal" sailors. And rightly so: the Luffe "Duese" Dieter Behl (SVAOe) wins Rund Helgoland in the IMS 1 class. Bremen's Beck's brewery invites you to free beer and roll roasts. Otherwise you can go to the "Hummerkorb", "Knieper" or the "Café Krebs". 25 yachts set off for Edinburgh.
1992 - 58th North Sea Week
"Bacon weather". Fantastic weather for the 100th anniversary of the Weser Yacht Club. "Rubin" and "Schini" are the only IOR boats at the "Helgoländer Acht".
1993 - 59th North Sea Week
The "New North Sea Week" with a circus tent as a sailors' meeting place. Street bands, jugglers and fireworks bring a folk festival character to the event. Cruising sailors are to sail more regattas again. Record for the Edinburgh Regatta: 85 entries. Later: fourth victory for a German team in the Admiral's Cup: "Container", "Pinta" and "Rubin XII".
1994 - 60th North Sea Week
There is no longer an IOR classification, but 168 participating yachts. For the first time, the NSW ends on Whit Monday with the return regattas and the start of "Pantaenius round Skagen". Harald Baum from Pantaenius has a new challenge trophy made: a Viking ship, made of 15 kg bronze, with club-wielding men - modelled on a cave drawing by artist Hermann Noack: "The race leads through former Viking territory and this trophy creates a link between the achievements of these outstanding sailors and those of today's regatta sailors." Harald Baum comments on the doldrums poker on the North Sea by radio: "We're swinging the clubs to the bitter end." The Baltic Sea rewards the tenacious sailors with a great spike course through the pylons of the Belt Bridge currently under construction.
1995 - 61st North Sea Week
230 participants. The "Rubin XIV" is the first "Rubin" for the IMS measurement formula to qualify for the Admiral's Cup class IMS 44-50. Three different boats sail for the AC off Cowes in the Mumm 36 and the ILC 40 construction class. 31 yachts receive a notice for sailing through the lobster protection area.
1996 - 62nd North Sea Week
Due to the possibility of heavy weather, the "Pantaenius round Skagen" regatta can be a great challenge: Only nine yachts out of 48 will finish.
1997 - 63rd North Sea Week
Admiral's Cup elimination. A "Rubin" qualifies for the 13th time. Three days of sailing in the sunshine. Matze Beilken sails the first Mini-Transat at the North Sea Week. Your ears fall off on VHF: The coastguard starts ranting because regatta participants are sailing in the middle of the Elbe fairway unimpressed by the sailing instructions and traffic rules. Fairness: Jörgen Heinritz does not accept the prize for Cuxhaven-Helgoland because his boat was not quite finished inside and does not comply with the IMS rules.
1998 - 64th North Sea Week
The trimaran "Fritzzz-Fratzzz" races around Skagen in 44.67 hours. Gerhard Clausen skippers the former "Spirit of La Trinite", a twelve metre long and eleven metre wide bullet with over 100 square metres of sail area.
1999 - 65th North Sea Week
Full programme. Elimination for the Admiral's Cup, ILC 30 district championship, X-99 German Cup ... The German IMS Championship does not take place due to a lack of participants, despite 170 regatta participants. Hamburg-Cuxhaven is cancelled due to a calm. The wind also dies during the DM feeder race, all but two boats have to anchor and the race only continues during the night. But the next morning there is a marvellous continuation of the race. 450 boats fill the harbour. Jochen Schümann steers the "Rubin" and wins. The small Sprintas start with 16 boats. Four identical First 40.7s start. 40 boats make their way to Edinburgh on Monday.
2000 - 66th North Sea Week
The "North Sea Cruiser Cup" motivates regatta beginners. The 67-foot Baltic "Uca" sets a new round Skagen record: 43.76 hours. This makes the Maxi faster than the 1998 Tri. NDR 2 successfully sets the mood every evening in the marquee at the harbour.
2001 - 67th North Sea Week
For the first time, prize money ranging from 500 to 3,000 marks will be awarded for the three best yachts. 160 yachts register.
2002 - 68th North Sea Week
The International German Sailing Championship is held off Heligoland. Volker Kriegel's IMX 45 "Alice" wins ahead of the Swan 45 "Babs" with helmsman Thomas Jungblut and former FD sailor Dirk Neukirchen with his IMX 40. Many people use Rund Skagen as a preparation measure for the "DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge (DCNAC)" taking place in June 2003.
2003 - 69th North Sea Week
With hailstones the size of chicken eggs and wind speeds of up to 45 knots, heavy squalls chased across the island on Whit Sunday. With wise foresight, the race organisers had announced a shortened course for the small yachts in advance: nobody was injured. The atmosphere in the evening is gigantic: the floor of the marquee is danced through: it collapses. Record time at the Edinburgh regatta: Norbert Plambeck races his "Hexe", a Baltic 51, to the finish line off Scotland in 47 hours and 14 minutes.
2004 - 70th North Sea Week
Calm on the feeders. Even the new maxi "Uca" drifts with the current almost past the pre-placed destination.
2005 - 71st North Sea Week
135 participants. The "Family Cruiser Cup" brings new participants to Helgoland - you can get a taste of the regatta atmosphere without too much stress and perhaps sail more ambitiously next time. With the "Outsider", a new type of boat appears at the North Sea Week: designed for speed and seaworthiness without a formula. A boat from a new dimension.
2006 - 72nd North Sea Week
145 participants. The first start begins on the Elbe in fog. The "BHF Bank Cup" is characterised by strong winds. Because the regatta buoys threaten to blow away, inflatable boats are used to replace the buoys. 35 boats finish the race, with the brand new "Bank von Bremen" coming in first. North Sea Week photographer Hinrich Franck takes spectacular pictures that are printed internationally.
2007 - 73rd North Sea Week
Bad weather. But even the mini Transat yachts hold out. During the "Rund um Helgoland", 30 knots of wind are measured in the harbour. No wonder that only 34 boats start, over 100 stay in the harbour. The night before was very stormy, many hardly slept. 48 yachts start the Edinburgh Regatta, 39 finish.
2008 - 74th North Sea Week
Caribbean conditions - plenty of sunshine and light winds. Premiere of the new "Early Bird" regatta series, which starts from Cuxhaven to Helgoland into the sunset. The ASSO 99 "stockmaritime" sets a benchmark for Helgoland-Hamburg: 7 hours, 43 minutes. Anyone who thinks they can do it faster can apply for the prize at www.h2h-challenge.de.
2009 - 75th North Sea Week
The anniversary event. New sponsors make a modern and attractive regatta possible. Dream conditions and great wind.
2010 - 76th North Sea Week
Exciting races take place despite the fog. The Pantaenius Round Skagen Race challenges the participants. Almost half of the boats give up. With the support of sponsor Pantaenius, the reasons for this are presented in an informative brochure.
2011 - 77th North Sea Week
The ORCi German Offshore Sailing Championship takes place as part of the North Sea Week. The yachts starting the "Sundowner" regatta on Friday sail towards a wonderful sunset. The races around Heligoland take place in almost Caribbean conditions.
2012 - 78th North Sea Week
Dream weather: sunshine with medium to light winds. The youth boat of the Hamburg Sailing Club (HSC), the "RubiX" with skipper Johannes Müller, an X332 yacht, surprisingly wins the title of German Offshore Champion. Müller's crew has an average age of just under 25 years. The yacht "Tramontane", which is just over nine metres long, wins the Pantaenius round-the-skagen race, despite very tough weather at the beginning. Eleven of the 60 starters give up on the first night.
