When Ascension Day becomes a heavenly gift for regatta sailors: The organisers and participants were overjoyed this morning when the Ministry of the Interior in Kiel gave the green light for the Baltic 500 double-handed regatta to take place. The responsible project manager Eckhard Jacobs ("Zukunftsplan Sportland Schleswig-Holstein") quickly and unbureaucratically approved the application submitted last week by Bernd Schütze, Chairman of the Yacht Club Strande, to organise the long-distance race after consulting the Ministry. "This is an incredibly important sign," says initiator and regatta director Cord Hall, whose dedicated organisation team has worked tirelessly in recent weeks to develop an infection protection concept and many other necessary special measures in times of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 500 nautical mile regatta for double-handed crews can take place without meetings, the joint dinner and the prize-giving ceremony. With a reduced team and in compliance with all relevant regulations, the organisers are more than confident that they will be able to offer their participants an invigorating new start to the regatta. Even if safety checks can only be carried out on a random basis, many things will be done with minimal effort, international teams may not be admitted due to the two-week quarantine obligation after entry and the course may be a little shorter than the name of the regatta promises due to the international restrictions: the joy of regaining a piece of sailing happiness in difficult times is enormous.
Just under 47 participants were still on the list on Monday afternoon after the uncertainties of the last few weeks - a clear commitment from the regatta sailors to their still young German Baltic Sea Rally. There may still be a few cancellations. However, the size of the fleet is much less important to most of them this year than its organisation. "Due to the constantly changing fundamentals, we have only been able to react and plan in two-week cycles recently. The fact that we have all managed to get the regatta off the ground together in these times seems important to us," says Cord Hall, whose organising partner Rasmus Töpsch is expected to start the race this year with Andreas Deubel and his new Dehler 30. Lina Rixgens and Sverre Reinke on the Wevo 6.50 Mini "Whomper" also want to be there. For Rixgens, the Baltic 500 marks the first regatta with her Mini in its new guise.
As in 2019, the participating boats will gather in the harbours in Schilksee and Strande on Ascension Day, if they are not already moored there. The regatta office at the Yacht Club Strande will only be operated by one team member at a time. Only one participant at a time is allowed in the office to register and hand over documents. And only two people are allowed on the starting boat and on the support boats at any one time. If there was a special medal for exceptional commitment, then the young race organiser Jan Czekala would have a good chance of winning it this year. The 18-year-old, who now operates with a national licence, had already confidently led the Baltic 500 premiere last year. This year he is doing it again, even though he is between his written and oral A-levels and is celebrating his birthday on the start day of the regatta. On the same day as his mum Britta.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
