Anyone who followed the start of the new Baltic 500 double-handed regatta and the course of the fleet into the first night on Father's Day will have been impressed: Maurice Oster and Oliver Tessloff brought their new Vector 6.50 Mini "Mex" round the course at such speed that they were actually the second-fastest boat in the entire fleet of all 39 Baltic 500 participants for a long time, behind Mathias Müller von Blumencron's Class 40 "Red", which quickly pulled away. Dirk Clasen's ORC Club yacht "Gingko" has since overtaken the new trans-ocean mini with its round scow bow, but with a 34 nautical mile lead over the next minis, Oster and Tesslaff remain in a class of their own on Friday afternoon, a good 24 hours after the start.
Their closest pursuers are the Danish "Grand Danois" with Claus Pedersen and Lisa Berger from Austria, who had previously trained with Pedersen off Kiel for just one day and is experiencing her personal mini premiere on the Baltic Sea. In third place in the mini field, the "Husky" with Hasso Hoffmeister and Lina Rixgens, which started the race so strongly, is still well in the running. Martin Gnass and Jan Heinze on "Lonestar" are also doing well in sixth place behind the fourth-placed "Petite Française" with Knud Hamburg and Immo Anfang and the Polish team with circumnavigator Szymon Kuczynski and co-skipper Marek Stanczyk.
Solo for "Red"
All alone at the head of the field, the Class 40 "Red" is heading for Læsø. Skipper Mathias Müller von Blumencron reported from on board on Friday morning: "The fast hours are gone, the slide across the grey Baltic Sea at speeds of up to 20 knots. It was great fun that didn't want to end. At Møn, the downslope gusts pushed us along, and we also shot past Copenhagen. Now we're heading for Læsø, labouring upwind. Martin and I both slept for a few hours and left the heating on at night - our only luxury on our meagre ship. The front is through, blue skies - finally. We're in good spirits and are trying to get to Læsø as quickly as possible."
However, the race organisers already had to announce the first retirements in the mini class on Friday evening: The "Proton" had to give up immediately after the start with damage to the mainsail, while the "Nxt Step" had initially called at Gedser without giving any further reasons. "Angry Bird" is now without a tracker but, according to observers, is travelling very fast. The ORC fleet started the first night unscathed. In the small yardstick field, the trimaran "Stella" is out of the race with rudder damage.
Here to go to live tracking.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
