6th MidsummerSail - 900 nautical miles from Wismar to Töre: "Black Maggy" makes the race to Sweden

Of the 44 starters who began the sixth edition of the MidsummerSail on the longest day of the summer, 31 are still in the race. The lull in the Baltic Sea has not only severely decimated the field of participants in the new Round Denmark Race inshore, which ended on Sunday - it is also challenging the veterans, adventurers and family and double-handed crews on the 900 nautical mile long-distance race from Wismar Bay to Töre in Sweden. Nevertheless, the fastest boats have already arrived. Although the race record of 5 days, 17 hours, 38 minutes and 46 seconds set in 2019 by the monohull yacht "Pure" was unbeatable in this light windy year, Wolfram Heibeck's well-known "Black Maggy" and her crew made the best of the conditions. They crossed the finish line in front of Töre on Monday after 6 days, 21 hours, 44 minutes, 7 seconds at sea in first place. Patrick Wendisch's "Nike" followed around an hour later.

Heibeck's single-handed boat, in the proven hands of its skipper and Thies Bartels, once again stood out from a fleet of very different crews who enjoy racing from the southernmost to the northernmost point of the Baltic Sea. So far, the prizes have been awarded without being offset. However, this is set to change next year, says organiser Robert Novatzki, who established the race himself in 2016 with a friend and just one boat. Since then, the number of participants has grown steadily. And there is a new feature on the programme for next year: anyone who wants to can then take part in the Baltic Sea Summer Rally under IRC. Nowatzki says: "Anyone who can produce a measurement certificate can then be credited. Then the purely fun regatta will also become a race for the seriously interested and ambitious."

While the multihulls are currently competing for the Agora direct MidsummerSail "Line Honours" in Swedish waters and other boats are hoping for good placings, the experiences and stories from the sea are providing a topic of conversation in the fleet after a week. For example, the GPS trackers that got stuck on the transport route from England to Germany before the start, for which replacements had to be procured at extremely short notice. The last device was only handed over by the escort boat minutes before the launch. A collision between two single-handed sailors on the first night also caused some excitement. One of them had to abandon the race the next morning.

Soloist André Baetz had an unforgettable encounter with a surprise guest on board his 28-foot trimaran "Flaneur". After he had already had to repair his torn mainsail on Öland, a seal made itself comfortable in his aft cockpit. And not just for a flying visit: For almost a whole day, the seal didn't think about getting out again. Meanwhile, the majority of the fleet has its eyes set on 5 July. That's when the time limit expires. And as with the Round Denmark Race inshore, where only 24 out of 62 starters reached the finish line, not everyone will make it to the MidsummerSail either. But that will hardly diminish the sailors' enjoyment of the Baltic Sea.