The crew of the sailing yacht "Ospa" has beaten its own round-Bornholm course record from 2017. Yesterday at 17:05:23, the former Volvo Ocean Racer from Rostock-based Team Speedsailing crossed the finish line off Warnemünde's centre pier under full sail. The new record time for the 270 nautical miles is 24 hours, 54 minutes and 23 seconds. The old record was beaten by an incredible 3 hours, 40 minutes and 7 seconds.
Skipper Otto Timm after crossing the finish line: "It was a great race. We are all safe and sound and it was great fun for everyone! We kept going right to the end!"
In gale-force winds, 20 starters took to the course at 16:11 on Sunday. "We spent a long time thinking about the weather before the start. But then we set off reefed at the start because we didn't want to take any risks. We had already decided the day before that we wanted to pass Bornholm to the south and keep to port," said Otto Timm about the tactical considerations. This decision turned out to be the right one. "We then caught a favourable shift in the wind off Bornholm." By the time they rounded the island, it had become clear that there could be a new round Bornholm record.
Peter Ramcke, Sports Director of Warnemünde Week, was delighted with the record: "Even the journey to Bornholm was record-breaking! It was like travelling on tram tracks, with the wind from astern to Bornholm. The 'Ospa' simply outdid itself in terms of performance."
The "Ospa" is a Volvo Ocean 60, which already took part in the 2001/02 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race under the name "SEB". She is 19.50 metres long, with a width of 5.25 metres and a draught of 3.75 metres. She displaces 13.5 tonnes and can carry up to 450 square metres of sail area.
The records around Bornholm:
2019 "Ospa" 24 hours, 54 minutes, 23 seconds
2017 "Ospa" 28 hours, 34 minutes, 30 seconds
2001 "Uca" 28 hours, 37 minutes, 00 seconds
The regatta was very different for the yacht "Herzblut". The crew had to abandon the regatta during the night after a rudder failure. The L30 sailed through the night at 16 knots. The gennaker was set and the log showed a speed of 16 knots. The "Herzblut" was sailing on starboard bow and lay well on the rudder. The choppy Baltic Sea did not cause any major problems. "North of the Baltic 1 wind farm, we suddenly had hardly any pressure on the rudder, and then there was none at all," says owner Andreas Brandtner. The cause was quickly identified: the shaft of the starboard rudder was broken. However, as the L30 has a double rudder system, the port rudder was still available. So the course was altered to port so that the damage could be inspected.
It now became apparent that the rudder had been completely torn off. The boat was taking on water easily. Leak plugs were brought out and used to seal the leak. This meant that there was no longer any immediate danger. Nevertheless, the decision to abort Rund Bornholm was quickly made.
Now Andreas Brandtner and his crew still had the return journey of around 30 nautical miles to Warnemünde ahead of them. In order to maintain the 30-foot-long boat's ability to steer, the tiller rods had to be repaired in a makeshift manner: Tape and rope did the job. However, a large wave lifted the boat during clearing, causing skipper Brandtner to lose his balance in the cockpit and injure his leg. Apart from that, the return journey went without a hitch. At around 2 o'clock on Monday morning, the "Herzblut" returned to the Hohe Düne marina.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
