The shipping regatta, a popular industry get-together under sail, organised by shipowners Christian and Dieter Gast, is "half sport, half job", as one of the participants, Hanns Ostmeier, Chairman of the Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt (HVS), described it at the award ceremony.
At the 38th edition this weekend, however, the sport took centre stage before the networking. The approximately 600 participants on 70 yachts had to fight hard to cover the nautical miles from Schleimünde to Ærøskøbing. Due to winds of up to 26 knots from the north-northeast and many rain showers, race director Alexander Prinz zu Schleswig-Holstein decided in favour of the short course. "The shipping regatta has never seen such a long cross as this time," he summarised. "The participants had to cross the 20 miles to Skjoldnæs, and the rain meant we had very poor visibility at times."
Due to the coronavirus, the event was somewhat smaller and quieter than usual and started with a hygiene concept including its own test vehicle. "With only 70 ships taking part, we had around a quarter fewer participants than before, and we also significantly reduced the evening programme in the destination port of Ærøskøbing," says Christian Gast.
This year's "First Ship Home" title went to the crew of Dr Uwe Lebens' STP 65 "Milan", which sailed the course in just under three and a half hours.
Results:
Class 1 classic car
1st "Fleur de Mer", Jens Ruppert, Ruppert Immobilien
2. "Peter von Seestermühe", Christoph von Reibnitz, Hammonia Reederei
3. " Athena", Peter Harren, HARPA Service & Support 39
Class 2 Yardstick >94
1st " Asteria", Jens Weishaupt, Peter Gast Shipping
2nd "Audax", Karsten Fach, Peter Gast Shipping
3. "Wusel", Gerd Zachariassen, AUERBACH Schifffahrt
Class 3 Yardstick 91-94
1st "Relaexx", Holger Neugebauer, Geo Gleistein & Sohn GmbH
2. "Alexa", Axel Grissmer, DHV Marine GmbH
3. "Anakena", Ulf Bertheau, Silverton Maritime Solutions
Class 4 Yardstick 8690
1st "Verano", Nils Beltermann, Peter Döhle Schiffahrts
2nd "Xeremonia" Holger Hoppe, SKF GmbH
3rd "Anne Bonny", Hans-Jürgen Färber, Peter Gast Shipping
Class 5 Yardstick < 86
1st "Phoenix", Jan Reiners, Abeking and Rasmussen
2nd "Nike", Dr Patrick Wendisch, Lampe & Schwartze KG
3. "Xola", Jan Günther, SKF GmbH
Yardstick above all
1st "Asteria", Jens Weishaupt, Peter Gast Shipping
2. "Relaexx", Holger Neugebauer, Geo Gleistein & Sohn
3. "Fleur de Mer", Jens Ruppert, Ruppert Immobilien
Class 6 ORC-Club B
1st "Arndt", Jan Pieter Kluike, Flensburger Schiffbau
2. "Hobby", Philipp Reith, Orion Reederei
3. "Halbtrocken", Dr Knut Freudenberg, Peter Gast Shipping
Class 7 ORC-Club A
1st "Katima", Jan Opländer, Flensburger YachtService
2nd "Chrila", Claus Bressler, Peter Gast Shippig
3rd "Störtebeker", Torben Mühlbach, Nordic Hamburg
ORC Club above all
1st "Arndt", Jan Pieter Kluike, Flensburger Schiffbau
2. "Hobby", Philipp Reith, Orion Reederei
3. "Katima", Jan Opländer, Flensburger Yacht Service
