The double-handed enthusiasts will be in Kiel from Thursday! More than 42 crews have registered for the fifth Baltic 500 and don't want to miss out on the Baltic Sea challenge. Many "repeat offenders", well-known names from the German shorthanded scene and newcomers will be taking part over the long Ascension weekend.
29 teams want to prove themselves in the ORC Club category, while half a dozen Dehler 30 ods form a small but fine field of standardised classes. Then there are the yardstickers with JPKs, Dehler and X yachts and other models. One of the two winners from last year, when strong winds and gusts in excess of 30 knots turned the Baltic 500 Rally into a stormy ride, will also be at the start. Till Behrendt and Andreas Buchheim set a new course record with their JPK 11.80 "Frida" after 2 days, 7 hours, 54 minutes and 23 seconds.
I prefer storms to calm." Jonas Hallberg
Defending champion Jonas Hallberg will once again be competing with the JPK 10.30 "Hinden". Because his sailing partner Till Barth had to cancel, Patrick Schmidt (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Kieler Yacht-Club) will be on board. However, the duo do not see themselves as favourites in view of the weak forecasts for the Baltic 500 this year, as Jonas Hallberg explains: "Of course we will do everything we can for one of the top places, but JPKs are not as competitive in very little wind as they are in more wind. We have a bit of a performance gap compared to other models. It depends on how much we can drive Code Zero."
Jonas Hallberg is like many of the participants: "I prefer a storm to a calm, I prefer 40 knots to the exhausting doldrums that get on your nerves." As a joke, Hallberg had "agreed" with co-organiser Rasmus Töpsch in the run-up to the regatta that after the strong wind conditions of recent years, "champagne sailing is on the cards for once". According to the forecasts for the fifth Baltic 500, this hope could be dashed, at least in the first half of the regatta, due to the poor winds.
Tactics and strategy are required
"I still think it will be exciting, because a lot of tactics and strategy will come into play," predicts Jonas Hallberg from the Kiel Yacht Club. The exact course, which may be shortened to the rounding of Anholt, will be presented by the Baltic 500 organisers and hosts in the dedicated team around Cord Hall and Rasmus Töpsch from the Yacht Club Strande in the early evening of 17 May at the skipper's briefing on the club grounds in Strande. Cord Hall has already promised a possible "wind scenario full of patches"...
The fleet of prospective Baltic 500 conquerors is also peppered with many interesting crews this year: In addition to the defending champions, Dehler 30-od dominator Oliver Schmidt-Rybandt will be joined by Felix Haus from Regatta Verein Greifswald. The duo has entered both the ORC Club and the closed Dehler class classification.
Exciting competitions expected in ORC Club, Dehler 30 od and Yardstick
JPK experts such as Michael Höfgen/Jasper Marwege (Flensburger Segel-Club/Segelkameradschaft "Das Wappen von Bremen"), co-organiser Rasmus Töpsch/Urs Kohler (Yacht-Club Strande), First-36 challengers such as Arno Böhnert and Christian Heermann (Norddeutscher Regatta Verin/Kieler Yacht-Club) and pogoists such as Tobias Brinkmann and Sönke Boy (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Kieler Yacht-Club) are also part of the anniversary party.
All-female crews such as the experienced mother-and-daughter team Sonja and Hanne Jansch (Club der Kreuzer Abteilung/Mühlenberger Segel-Club) with their Seaquest 36 or Eshana Müller and Charlotte Schneider from Hamburger Segel-Club on a JPK 10.30 will also be competing. In the Yardstick division, the Bundesliga and 505er experts Andreas Willim and Tom Gosch from the Schlei-Segel-Club will be competing with the JPK 38 "Belle".
The Baltic 500 in the stormy 2022 version: last year's winners cross the finish line here...
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Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
