Calm conditions and turns of up to 180 degrees meant a little luck and, above all, very attentive sailing. After the MaiOR had been cancelled for two years due to the coronavirus, 25 ORC yachts and twelve J/70s found their way to the starting line. The ORC yachts were divided into two groups, ORC I/II and ORC III/IV, and sailed a total of five races.
Passage for "Intermezzo" in ORC I/II
In the 14 large yachts (ORC I/II), Jens Kuphal's "Intermezzo" (Berlin) came out on top. Right from the start, the signs were set for victory. After five races, the Landmark 43 mod had five victories to its name. Kuphal, who wants to take part in The Ocean Race with the "Einstein" (Imoca/winner of The Ocean Race Europe), is one of Germany's most committed ocean sailors. There will also be a reunion with the Imoca in Kiel, as the race will include a fly-by on 9 June through Kiel's inner fjord.
At the MaiOR, the "Intermezzo" was manned by numerous successful professionals. The list of renowned crew members of Jens Kuphal, who started five times and won five times, ranged from the Brit Annie Lush, sixth at the London 2012 Olympics in the Star boat, Robert Stanjek, the Kieler Woche winner in the Finn, Phillip Kasüske, all of whom were also on board the Imoca, to Max Gurgel (multiple German ORC champion with "Rubix", "Solconia", "X-Day", "Intermezzo" and in the match race). "It's been a long road. When I started ten years ago, we came last in the IDM off Warnemünde," recalls Kuphal, who also wants to encourage today's newcomers.
Second place went to the new "X-Day" with Lars Hückstädt and owner Walter Watermann (Kiel). The Fast 40+ had just been imported from England for the MaiOR and was still partly sailing with the sail number GBR 419 R. Watermann had seen the yacht in an advert in October last year, test sailed it in Cowes in November and bought it straight away. "I had to stifle my grin during the purchase discussion so as not to drive up the price, but I was immediately impressed," says Watermann. With a second place in the last race, the "X-Day" pushed the Danes around skipper Sören Junker with the "Nexus" (X-41), which has also been competing in Kiel for years, into third place.
Lash final in ORC III/IV
In the ORC III/IV class, the decision was made in the last race. Tied on points with two first, one second and one third place, the last race was decided in favour of the Kiel "Freya". The crew of the X-35 is made up of active members of the yacht school and training group of the Kiel Yacht Club, with an average age of between 23 and 24. "Our big goal is the ORC World Championship off Kiel next year," says skipper Nick Heuwinkel.
Steen Toftebjerg (Denmark) came second with his "Stony VIII" (Italia 11.98) after leading for two days. Third place went to Torsten Bastiansen (Flensborg Yacht Club) with the X-35 "Xen". The five-time German Champion, two-time Vice World Champion and Vice European Champion is the reigning Kieler Woche winner and was one point behind the leading duo and seven points ahead of fourth-placed Knut Freudenberg with the "halbtrocken" (First 36.7/SV Flensburg).
Dominance with the J/70
A small but fine field took to the course for nine races in the J/70. Among the eleven German and one Danish crew, Martin Menzner (Stein) and Carsten Kemmling (Hamburg) were also multiple German champions at the start. Martin Menzner dominated the J/80 class for decades, won the Kieler Woche series (most recently in 2020) and was a twelve-time German champion. The boat designer and yacht designer also brought the Kieler Yacht-Club into the German Sailing League and is now involved in the J/70. "The J/80 class was too thin on the ground and there were no more regatta fields," says Menzner, explaining his change of boat. "Nowadays, you should be happy if a single class still has twelve boats at the start on the lake courses," he said, satisfied with the MaiOR field. Although he had experienced significantly stronger times in standardised classes such as X-79, X-99, J/80 and some other classes, times have changed. According to Menzner, single-handed and double-handed sailing are the trend. "We hardly had any time to train and first had to get to know the boat," explained Menzner, who was satisfied with the learning curve, two second places at the end and fifth place overall.
Carsten Kemmling is quite different. The Hamburg native, a former successful Laser and FD sailor, four-time German match race champion and three-time Bundesliga title winner with the NRV, knows the J/70 inside out and was able to put his experience to good use. "You had to sail the turns well. We managed to do that," said Kemmling, who scored five first and two second places. "The races became increasingly difficult towards the end, but they were doable," said the Hamburg native. The eighth race, which was shortened due to the spins and lulls, was also his streak. This was followed by his fifth victory at the end. "But it was really exciting to compete with Martin Menzner once again," said Kemmling.
No yardstick rating
The organisers did not achieve one goal: a separate classification for yardstick yachts. The invitation to tender was an attempt to get new owners interested in sea regatta sailing by eliminating the effort required for the ORCi measurement, for example. However, no Yardstick entries were received. "We will try further and more directly. There is a lot of potential in the scene. We want to expand and revitalise the regatta scene," says race director and head of the race course Eckart Reinke.
