The result at the premiere of the Roschier Baltic Sea Race is more than impressive from a German perspective: Two German yachts finished the new Baltic Sea long-distance race over 630 nautical miles to and from Helsinki in third and fourth place in the overall IRC rankings! The nine-strong young crew on the black "Störtebeker" from the Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt finished in fifth place after 3 days, 4 hours, 57 minutes and 24 seconds. That was enough for the Carkeek 47 to take the calculated third place on the podium ahead of Tilmar Hansen's TP 52 J/V "Outsider" in fourth place. The latter, in turn, had fought a thrilling duel for line honours with the team on the Volvo Open 70 "I love Poland" at the head of the field. In the end, after 3 days, 27 minutes and 37 seconds at sea, the team from the Polish National Foundation skippered by Grzegorz Baranowski came out on top. The Hansen crew was only 700 metres short in the light wind poker. They were followed by the Volvo 70 "GP Bullhound" and the VO65 "Ambersail" before the Hamburg-based "Störtebeker" reached the finish line. Click here for the tracker and the results (please click!).
"The result is a mega success for the crew, skipper Torben Mühlbach and the HVS," announced the home club promptly and proudly. In addition to third place in the overall standings, the "Störtebeker" also won its own IRC Zero group. The 16.41 metre long Carkeek 47 "Störtebeker" was built in 2015 in Dubai by Premier Composites from full carbon fibre and designed as a "high performance racer". A professional team spent four years optimising her for offshore use. The club explains the reason for the HVS acquisition as follows: "The yacht offers speed experiences that make the young HVS sailors' hearts beat faster." Every superfluous gram of weight has been saved below deck, there is no comfort whatsoever. Despite the high standard of technology and equipment, the yacht is very robust and therefore also easy to sail for amateur crews such as the sailors of the Störtebeker sailing group. She has neither a technically vulnerable canting keel nor water ballast tanks, but two grinders in the cockpit and a sail wardrobe that leaves little to be desired.
The Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt occupies a special position in the German sailing club landscape due to its history and its tasks: it provides young sailors from all over Germany with modern yachts for trips and regattas on the open sea. Hundreds of young sailors from more than 60 sailing clubs have had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with offshore sailing, experience regatta fun together and achieve success. The victory in the current Roschier Baltic Sea Race marks the latest highlight in the club's more than 100-year history. In addition to the "Störtebeker", the 52-foot cruiser/racer "Haspa Hamburg" and the Andrews 56 "Broader View Hamburg" are other well-known HVS training yachts
Note on our own behalf: In an initial version of this report, we had announced the "Störtebeker" as the overall IRC winner as a result of corresponding press releases. This was premature, we apologise for this error. The Swedish Albin Nova "Team Mobline" (sailed time: 4 days, 13 hours, 32 minutes, 4 seconds) crossed the finish line just under one and a half days after the "Störtebeker" and the Finnish H-323 "Silver Moon II" (sailed time: 4 days, 18 hours, 18 minutes and 44 seconds) just under five hours later. Both finished ahead of "Störtebeker" and "Outsider" in the IRC handicap ranking. Salla Kaven's "Silver Moon II" won the overall IRC classification in the 1st Roschier Baltic Sea Race. Click here for the results (please click!).
