ORC World Championship: Worthy world champions and two medals for German boats
Tatjana Pokorny
· 12.08.2023
A TP52, a Grand Soleil 44 P and an Italia 11.98 are the old and new world champions in sea sailing. World Championship gold went to Karl Kwok's TP52 "Beau Geste" (Hong Kong), Marcin Sutkowski's Polish "Windwhisper" (ex-"Essentia 44") and Ott Kikka's "Sugar 3" with Sandro Montefusco from Estonia at the ORC World Championship in Kiel. It was a triumph for the defending champions, who defied the three days of storms as well as the light rain final on the Kiel Fjord.
Nobody can vice as well as we can" (Bo Teichmann)
Germany's sea sailors have won two medals at the World Championships in Kiel: Tilmar Hansen's crew on the silver-coloured "Outsider" from the Kieler Yacht-Club was the best German boat in the premier class A with silver at the World Championships. "This is our third runner-up world championship after 2018 and 2020. Nobody can do it as well as us," said helmsman Bo Teichmann with a twinkle in his eye. Would it help to paint the TP52 gold for the next World Championship? "Maybe we should think about that," said Bo Teichmann and laughed.
Carl-Peter Forster's young and ambitious crew on the bright red Bavarian "Red Bandit" won World Championship bronze in Class A - a success for the project, which paves the way to training and participation in international regattas for young sailing talent via a foundation. Further titles were also awarded in the "Dock Talk": Johannes Wackerhagen's crew on "Desna" was able to celebrate the unofficial title of "runner-up world champion of the second half" after an unfortunate start and a successful second half of the world championship. Jan Opländer's fifth-placed Swan 45 "Katima" was awarded the honourable title of "Fastest Teak Deck of the World Championship".
Karl Kwok's "Beau Geste" (Hong Kong) was unbeatable here. Nevertheless, tactician Gavin Brady said: "It wasn't an easy week. The competition was tough and we had to give it our all. We really enjoyed the variety of conditions and courses at this event and everything Kiel has to offer."
Triumph for all title defenders
The professional team on "Beau Geste" defended their title in the six-day series, as did the two winning boats in classes B and C, where the German co-favourites missed out on the podium. In Group B, Marcin Sutkowski's Polish "Windwhisper" won ahead of the Danish "Sirena" and the Estonian "Katariina II". In the medium-sized yacht division, there was a last-minute tug-of-war for the top position on the last two days despite the long dominance of the "Windwhisper".
After a protest from a third party against the "Windwhisper 44" catapulted the Danish "Sirena" (Peter Buhl) back into contention for the World Championship title, the new leader initially turned up the heat in the first race of the day on the final Saturday. While the "Windwhisper 44" speculated about the right side of the starting line, the "Sirena" worked its way from the centre to the front of the field.
"Windwhisper" remains strong until the end
The Poles got bogged down in traffic on the course and the Danes took the lead. But the patchy wind had more surprises in store for this race: the "Sirena" parked up on the second cross, the "Windwhisper" seized the opportunity and sailed into second place, thus holding all the trump cards for the final up & down. With another second place at the end, the international team flying the Polish flag left no doubt about their ability.
"We're super happy now. I couldn't sleep at all tonight, I was so nervous. Peter (Buhl, skipper of the second-placed team"Sirena" d. Red.) is an incredibly strong sailor and demanded everything from us. The wind wasn't good for us today because we have the heaviest boat in the fleet. We simply tried not to take any risks in these tricky conditions. And then in the second race we controlled the situation," reported "Windwhisper" owner Marcin Sutkowski about the two short races on the final day. Then he was caught by his crew and thrown into the water.
"Sugar 3" defends the World Cup title in Group C
Jens Kuphal's "Intermezzo" sailed to fourth place with half the "Guyot" crew from the Ocean Race. In the division of the smallest world championship boats, the crew on the Estonian defending champion "Sugar 3" relegated their compatriots on "Matilda 4" and "Arabella" from Lithuania to second and third place. The best German boat in the largest fleet of 63 teams of the smallest boats was Max Habeck's "Aquaplay" from the Monte Baldo Yacht Club with helmsman Gordon Nickel in sixth place.
There was much applause at sea and on land at the end of the ORC Summit in Kiel for four German sailing teams who ended their campaigns and bid farewell to the ORC World Championship. Kirsten Harmstorf-Schönwitz' women's crew on "Tutima" displayed a banner on board on the final day with the words "Thank you very much!" in the typical pink letters. The women sailors and their skipper from the Mühlenberger Segel-Club started their project in 2009. After a three-year break, they have now competed once again at the World Championships. The winners of the "Corinthian Division" of the amateur crews were celebrated enthusiastically. The Immac team, "Halbtrocken" and "Quattro" also ended their projects and said goodbye in Kiel - accompanied by many emotions and melancholy.
As a farewell to the six-day series, which had challenged 111 teams from 13 nations with three stormy days at the start, then offered picture-book weather and ended in pouring rain, race director "Ocean One" Stefan Kunstmann wrote a farewell message to the sailors of Group A, which was well suited to this World Championship and to all participants and helpers in all starting groups.
From "Ocean One" Stefan Kunstmann:
Dear participants, this is Offshore One.
In the interest of brevity, I will not have the opportunity to speak to all of you during the awards ceremony tonight. However, I would like to thank you for the Worlds. Thank you for taking part in this tough competition, in sometimes brutal, sometimes almost windless conditions. For the sportsmanship and respect you showed, for the free cardio training as you approached the start line. Thank you for the incredible images in our heads, which are difficult to capture on film, but which will stay with us for a long time. For example, when you flew to the finish line with only your keel and rudder in the water.
Thank you for a friendly smile, a wave to the volunteers, a pat on the back or a word of encouragement here and there, that's how the volunteers get paid and it was much appreciated. Thank you for suffering through the dark magic of meteorology with us when we had to make difficult decisions without knowing exactly what the future would bring.
If you meet one of our volunteers, please give him or her a pat on the back" (Stefan Kunstmann)
If you meet one of our volunteers, please give him or her a pat on the back or a handshake. They were amazing and would make any race officer look good. I look forward to seeing many of you at one of your next regattas. Until then, one last heartfelt thank you from me for making our sport look so great. This is Offshore One, over."
