100 years of the North Sea Week: Pantaenius Round Skagen Race: "Uca's" Round Skagen record cannot be broken again

Knierim Yachtbau Managing Director Steffen Müller was already sitting back in the office on Kiel's Uferstraße after the most beautiful North Sea Week sailing fun with his smart Brenta 60 "Almost Nothing" when the fastest boat in the long-distance classic Pantaenius Rund Skagen crossed the finish line. Müller and his team had decided not to take part in the marathon. They did not want to put their yacht through the potentially very tough conditions that had been forecast. "We tend to be fair-weather sailors after all," he said with a smile. Nevertheless, Steffen Müller still retains the round-the-skagen record that he helped set 22 years ago as a crew member on Dr Klaus Murmann's 67-foot Baltic "Uca".

The record from the year 2000 remains a perennial favourite. Back then, the "Uca" team with helmsman Walter Meier-Kothe and other top sailors completed the 510 nautical mile course from Helgoland around Skagen and to the finish off Kiel in just 1 day, 19 hours and 46 minutes. Since then, no other racer, no matter how successful, has finished so quickly. The team around "L4/Trifork" skipper Jens Dolmer must now join the ranks of strong but hapless record-breakers. The VO70 yacht set off at lightning speed on Whit Monday and sailed on a record course for a long time. But then the calm Baltic Sea winds on the way to Kiel showed no mercy. In the end, the "flying Dutchmen" on the "L4/Trifork" sailed 1 day, 22 hours, 20 minutes and 30 seconds, a good two and a half hours short of breaking the old "Uca" record.

Like all subsequent teams, the sailors were welcomed in Kiel-Schilksee by the Regattagemeinschaft Nordseewoche team. DSV President Mona Küppers and Johannes Christophers also welcomed the "L4/Trifork" crew at sea. The German Sailing Association also opened its doors at the Olympic Centre, where the athletes met up after the long-distance race to chat and enjoy a warm chilli after the multi-day ride. The second boat to finish was Michael Berghorn's fast Mills 45 "Halbtrocken 4.5" with a class time of 2 days, 11 hours, 50 minutes and 40 seconds. Owner and crew enjoyed the long-distance race as well as the entire North Sea Week. "It was a super event with typical Heligoland flair," enthused the ORC world champion. "In terms of sailing, Skagen Rund was great fun," said Berghorn, "on our third participation we had a rough wave in the Kattegat, smooth water in the final phase and also a wind hole - all the sailing facets. That made us sail and train intensively as a team and helped us progress." The ORC World Champion's greeting, before heading home to the sofa after the long distance, was directed at the organisers: "That was a lot of work and a great achievement. Without the volunteers, we would all be able to sail again. We say thank you for that!"

The third boat to finish on Thursday morning was the Andrews 56 "Broader View Hamburg" from the Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt. The smallest yacht in the field still had almost 150 nautical miles to go. So it will be a while before the massive Viking challenge cup for the calculated and combined overall victory in ORCi and ORC Club, which was designed and cast in bronze by the well-known Berlin art foundryman and passionate sea sailor Herrmann Noack, can be awarded. Click here for information about the Pantaenius Round Skagen Race and to the live tracker (please click!).