The second edition of the Baltic 500 long-distance race is drawing to a close. Some crews are still at sea, including the remaining minis "Whomper" with Lina Rixgens and Sverre Reinke and "Husky" with Hasso Hoffmeister and Michael Höfgen, which are expected to arrive in Strande on Sunday evening between 9 and 10 pm. But the race is decided at the top. The Pogo 40 "Black Pearl" crossed the start and finish line in Strande Bay on Sunday as the fastest boat in the fleet of 34 boats that started the regatta on Father's Day. The line honours for Frank Eckardt and Yo Wiebel were secured at 10.52 am. The crew of the Class 40 favourite "Red" had already withdrawn from the race on Friday due to the stormy wind forecast and the short preparation for the season. What the performance of the "Black Pearl" crew will be worth in the overall ORC ranking will only be decided later. The complete ORC results will be published by the race organisers from the Strande Yacht Club on Monday.
Jonas Hallberg's JPK 10.10 "Hinden" once again made a strong impression, and after its overall victory at the premiere in 2019, it is on the verge of successfully defending its title this year. Jonas Hallberg and Till Barth also felt the differences between the first and second editions over the past three days and nights: "Last year, more strategy and tactics were required; this year, in view of the sometimes harsh conditions, it was mainly psyche and physical strength." Hallberg was impressed by the organisers' commitment in a complex situation in the midst of the coronavirus crisis: "In the weeks leading up to the start, I spoke to the head of organisation, Cord Hall, on the phone several times and shared in the excitement. He really got stuck in, it was great!" Like all the other sailors, the team on the "Hinden" felt "pretty flat, but happy" after the three-day stress test at the finish line.
The duel between the two new Dehler 30-od yachts was won by Oliver Schmidt-Rybandt (RVG) and Otto Timm (HSC) on "Power Play". They were followed by Andreas Deubel and Rasmus Töpsch on "Calle Dr Antonio Jorge Aguiar". The winning team had plenty of praise for the new boat: "Despite some tough conditions, in which almost a third of the field had to retire, our crew and their boat managed to complete the challenging course without any failures. In its first real offshore endurance test, the new Dehler 30 od more than lived up to the high expectations."
For others, however, the Baltic 500 adventure ended long before the finish line this year. Christian Kargl and Lisa Berger were in a commanding lead in the mini class when a broken oar stopped the Austrian mixed offshore European champions in the night from Friday to Saturday. Lisa Berger reported: "The Baltic 500 came to an end for us shortly before Læsø after a broken oar. But until then it was a great race! With a top speed of 19.8 knots, we cleaned up the field from behind after we were allowed to turn northwards after a long upwind phase and found perfect mini conditions. That's just fun!"
Max Gurgel and Lena Weißkichel on the L-30 od "Sharifa", borrowed from co-organiser Rasmus Töpsch, also struggled. After a brilliantly sailed race, two cracks in the keel box made life at sea difficult for the mixed offshore crew. When the crack on the windward side became bigger and bigger as the boat pitched in the waves and, according to Lena Weikichel, finally "started to breathe like a fish gill around 30 centimetres long", the crew took the main down. Repairs to the steering system, piecework contactor deployments, tiredness and a renewed fighting spirit characterised life on board until the crew found an anchorage in the Danish bay off Ebeltoft and were even allowed to make their way home from there today after making various arrangements. It was not only the regatta performance and other advisors that helped, but also Peer-Ole Köhnen from PK Yachtservice, who picked up the team and boat in Denmark and brought them home. Initial fears that the German sailors would be placed in coronavirus quarantine in Denmark proved unfounded. "The police welcomed us directly in the harbour and were very nice," reported Max Gurgel, "and the harbour master even made us a coffee." For Max Gurgel and Lena Weißkichel, the Baltic 500 marked the joint regatta kick-off for their Olympic campaign. Weißkichel summarised: "This jump into the deep end was very instructive. We learnt more from all the incidents than we would have done if we had sailed the regatta as normal."
By Sunday evening, shortly before 6 pm, race director Jan Czekala was able to report 16 boats at the finish line. The final classification will be published when everyone is back in the harbour. Here is an overview of the results already available here. After three nights without much sleep, head of organisation Cord Hall is hoping for a night without a late shift. His initial assessment: "It was good that we did it. People are pretty exhausted, but that's normal. You shouldn't underestimate this route. The Kattegat is no kindergarten."
