Vegvisir Race: Illuminated by the full moon - Baltic Sea rally with a taste factor

The Vegvisir Race is a Danish Baltic Sea rally that is very popular with German sailors. Of the more than 120 boats that entered this year for the three varied courses over 78, 167 and 225 nautical miles in either the solo or double-handed category, more than 80 came from Germany. Some were taking part for the first time, others for the second time.

A very special sailing pleasure under a full moon." Stefan Knabe

Stefan Knabe and Andreas Rohde, for example, who enjoyed the long sailing weekend for the fifth time. "We know almost every sandbank here," joked skipper Stefan Knabe. "This time it was a bit cloudy at first, then daylight at night in the Fehmarnbelt - incredible! The Vegvisir Race was a very special sailing experience under a full moon." The two-handed crew on the modified J-39 "KnabHorn" completed the medium distance of 167 nautical miles with the fastest sailed time of all boats in all categories, even though another boat was awarded the line honours.

It is a special feature of the Vegvisir Race that the line honours are awarded to the first boat to cross the finish line for each of the three courses of different lengths, even though the different classification groups are sent into the race at different times on the same course. Solo sailor Jens Listrup was officially celebrated as the line honours winner. In the official list of times sailed, "KnabHorn" is listed as the fourth boat for the 167 nautical mile course. However, the three boats ahead of them on the list had actually started the race 40 and 20 minutes ahead of them respectively.

You could get upset about this from a sporting point of view, but that is far from the minds of most of the participants. They come to Nyborg to enjoy sailing in competition with the others, even if the top teams are quite ambitious and the division winners are delighted with their successes.

Jan von der Bank: with a passion for sailing, but without electronic weather charts

This applies to Stefan Knabe and Andreas Rohde as winners of the "Large" group in the two-handed classification of the medium distance as well as to the other German group winners. One of them is book and screenplay author Jan von der Bank with his beautiful home-built "Remy". He steered his Berckemeyer 31 Classic solo to first place in the "Large" group on the short course of 78 nautical miles.

The fact that his premiere got off to a bumpy start was due to the fact that the electronic nautical charts suddenly stopped working after the update. "I had deleted the app and reloaded it. It was a shock when it suddenly stopped working with one bar of reception," says the skipper. However, he didn't want to give up on his Vegvisir premiere because of this.

Sailing in the wake of the others after tracking was the emergency solution." Jan from the bank

His solution: "I had thought of a plan B - so foam-braked. Luckily, three or four boats had soon overtaken me under spinnaker or gennaker. Sailing in the wake of the others after tracking was the emergency solution." You have to imagine, says Jan von der Bank about his feelings on board, how many hours he spent grinding his keel. "You don't really want to hit a rock."

"Beauty and the Beast" in Nyborg harbour

It was only in the final third of the race that the "Remy" skipper was able to fall back on his cards and secure his group victory. "In the end, such adventures - if you've survived them - are of course the best," was his conciliatory conclusion. He also took this scene home with him: "Remy" was moored in the harbour next to Jan Hansen's Aeolos P30 "The Beast". "It was a bit like Beauty and the Beast," says the 56-year-old Contender world champion with a smile.

Jan von der Bank is already fulfilling smaller and larger sailing dreams in his second season with the 9.50 metre long plywood retro racer "Remy" after five years of construction - "Backe baut'n Boot". At the get-together in Nyborg, he met the likeable Franz Schollmayer from the Rheingau Sailing Club, among others. Together with Falko Braun, he was able to prevail in the large group of "small" double-handed crews with the Corsa 30 "Firlefanz" over 167 nautical miles.

German group victories on all courses

Other German division winners over 78 nautical miles for double-handed teams were Thorsten Thelen and Uwe Berthold on the Seaquest 36 "Circus" in the "Large" group and Maximilian Wauschkuhn on the Warship 730 "Urmel" from Schwerin in the solo classification for the short distance. In addition to Schollmeyer/Braun, Mattis Franken and Luke Schmieding on the Melges 24 "Freya" from SGB Baldeneysee won the medium distance in the "Mini" group.

Michael Haacke and Jan Findeisen on the X-35 OD "Maxima" from Bremerhaven won the "Medium" category in the long-distance race over 225 nautical miles. Carsten Röhl and Jens Brandt won the "Large" category with the J 122 "Feline" from Großenbrode.

It's all in the mix

Overall, the participants enjoyed the DNA of the Vegvisir Race organised by Morten Brandt-Rasmussen in cooperation with the city of Nyborg. The combination of night sailing, the coastal sections in the flat archipelago and challenging offshore phases characterises the Vegvisir Race, which offers plenty of sailing fun in just one weekend. For many soloists, it was also the last stop on the Silverrudder course, which traditionally starts in Svendborg on 15 September and takes its challengers around Funen.

UPDATE, 6 September, 10 a.m.

After some confusion, the organisers have corrected their results lists significantly. This has also resulted in some new group winners. Here is an overview of all GER teams & boats that won their classification groups:

2 Star 78, Large category: Thorsten Thelen/Uwe Berthold (Seaquest 36 "Circus"); Singlehand 78, Mini category: Jörg Kegel (L 23 "Endurance"); Singlehand 78, Medium category: Jan von der Bank (Berckemeyer 31 Classic "Remy"); 2 Star 176, Mini category: Mattis Franken/Luke Schmiedin (Melges 24 "Freya"); 2 Star 176, Small category: Franz Schallmayer/Falko Braun (Corsa 30 "Firlefanz"); 2 Star 176, category Large: Stefan Knabe/Andreas Rhode (J-39 mod. "KnabHorn"); Singlehanded 167, category Mini: Jonas Kroner (Vector Mini 650 "Karin Monika"); Singlehanded 167, category Small: Hajo Hensel (Dehler 30 OD "Tute Bene"); 2 Star 225, category Medium: Michael Haacke/Jan Findeisen (X-35 OD "Maxima"), 2 Star 225, category Large: Carsten Röhl (J 122 "Feline").

Click here for the results of the Vegvisir Race 2023.