It was a windy start yesterday off the coastal town of Ouistreham as the 30 participating skipper duos set off. With gusts of around 30 knots, the field set off with reefs and small headsails on the 1,000-mile course of the Normandy Channel Race, the first big, important race of the season for the Class 40s. The course leads around the Isle of Wight, from there around England's western tip Lands End and on to a course mark off Ireland before rounding the Fastnet Rock back to Caen. Almost double the Fastnet distance in a legendary area, so in nautical terms it's the first really big chunk of the season.
Two young German aces are taking part in the Class 40 circus this year: Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink, both recently very successful in the Mini-Transat, have been sailing a brand new Class 40 "Think Big, Think Social" of the Pogo S4 type since this year.
In February, YACHT interviewed the pair, who had acquired a Class 40 that was ready to win via a German supporter. visited during training before Cascais. The duo have clearly made a successful transition from the Mini to the much more demanding Class 40. The Box Rule class is considered to be very demanding and, just like the Open 60, has the great transatlantic classics in its programme.
Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink in third place
After the peloton reached and rounded the Isle of Wight at breakneck speed yesterday, it then headed west towards Lands End. On the way there, the leading duo of Ian Lipinski/Antoine Carpentier on their "Credit Mutuel" separated from the field with more of the top favourites as they halted off the British coast to seek more wind further offshore. Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink decided to sail closer to shore in the main group and take the shorter route. At the moment it is not yet clear which route is the better one, this should become clear in the course of today when rounding Lands End, where the field should come together again. As a result, the two Germans are currently in an excellent third place and have been one of the fastest boats in the field for hours.
Both had trained extensively with their "Think Big Think Social" off Brittany over the last few months and obviously found the right settings for their Pogo S4 there. The boat type, the last Class 40 design from the shipyard, is a race series boat, but after top results in the last Class 40 races it can obviously also keep up well against the one-offs of the Hotshots and is capable of winning.
The visit in the video on YACHT TV:
The start of the Normandy Channel Race:
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Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
