The third edition of the Baltic 500 is underway: Season finale with a strong wind start: two hands into the adventure

At the start, Strander Bucht served up crisp winds of around 20 to 25 knots. A little more in gusts. The professionals in the small Baltic 500 fleet were easy to spot. While the majority of the starters tended to set off on the shortened course with two reefs and a jib, Morten Bogacki and Susann Beucke opened the two-handed race on their Dehler 30 od "Humboldt" from Offshore Team Germany with just one reef and under code zero with a strikingly aggressive approach. The 2019 Minitransat bronze medallist and the 49erFX silver medallist from the Japan Olympics set off confidently on a course that does not challenge its challengers on the classic route due to the brutal wind forecasts for the Kattegat. Less than two weeks after her challenging solo ride in the Silverrudder, Susann Beucke said: "I'm really looking forward to a new adventure on the Baltic Sea. This time I'm not travelling alone, but together with Morten, a very experienced sailor and old friend. How cool that I can sail on this beautiful boat and continue to face new challenges! It looks like windy days at sea."

In 2021, the third edition of the 390 nautical mile Baltic Sea Rally will send its participants first to Schleimünde and around Fehmarn to a mooring buoy off Travemünde. It then goes into the Bay of Lübeck, along the coast around Rügen, past the approach buoy off Sassnitz to Warnemünde and via Kalkgrund to the finish. "This is one of the emergency courses from 2020 that we developed in case we couldn't go to Denmark during the pandemic. It worked well this year because we wouldn't have been able to send the fleet into the Kattegat given the forecasts of up to 50 knots. That would not have been responsible," explains Cord Hall.

The fact that only 16 teams turned up at the line in Strander Bucht on the start day is due to the pandemic postponement from the regatta's regular date in May to September, but also to the expected strong winds. In the last week before the start of the regatta alone, twelve crews cancelled. In addition, several teams decided to cancel at the last minute. "The original date in May was fully booked with 75 boats and a long waiting list," reports Cord Hall, whose team from the organising Yacht Club Strande is unwavering in its commitment whatever the weather and makes the regatta the highlight of the season for the two-handed crews, even with a small field.

At the height of Sassnitz, the Swedish Figaro 3 "Sunkini" with Leif Jägerbrand and Anna Drougge was leading in the morning after the first night, ahead of the H 39 "Ginkgo" with Dirk Clasen and Andreas Achner and the JPK 10.30 "Hinden" with Jonas Hallberg and Till Barth. They were followed by the Dhler 30 od "Humboldt" with Morten Bogacki and Susann Beucke. The fastest graduates of the course are expected back in Strande on Saturday. Click here for the live tracker and the interim results (please click!).