It could hardly have been smoother. In nine regattas, the "Hanseatic Lloyd" of Christian Plump from Bremen sailed to the best result in the Kiel Cup in the IMS I class with 11 points. The crew won ahead of Bernd Kriegel's "Unique" and the "Ocean Warrior" from Norway.
All three races of the day placed the highest demands on the tacticians of the yachts and could be carried out as planned in otherwise perfect sailing conditions with sunshine and 4 Beaufort in gusts up to 6 by race officer Eckard Reinke.
"The wind shifts were difficult to predict today, and we had to watch out like hell to stay ahead," said "Hanseatic Lloyd" helmsman Albert Schweizer, summarising the day and visibly delighted with his victory in the Kiel Cup classification. Despite some rule changes in the IMS formula for the current season, owner Christian Plump has remained faithful to his Rodman 42 "Hanseatic Lloyd" from last season.
Although the technical component of the boat is also part of the success concept for Plump, a perfectly coordinated crew that also enjoys sailing is even more important to him. This year, he supplemented his tried-and-tested team of Albert Schweizer at the helm and Leif Tom Loose on the mainsheet with sailing professional Tom Swift from England, who is not only responsible for the boat as bosun, but also ensures the right timing when hoisting the sails on the foredeck of the "Hanseatic Lloyd". This means that the crew of the "Hanseatic Lloyd" is ideally equipped for the IMS 600 European Championship off Neustadt in August, and Christian Plump has given himself the best present for his 50th birthday, which he is celebrating today, by winning the Kiel Cup.
The knot seems to have burst this season on board Bernd Kriegel's "Unique" from Kiel. The already good results from the spring at the MAIOR regattas on the Stollergrund were topped by tactical neutalent Björn Jonas (Lübeck), who even sailed to victory with his crew on the last regatta day of the Kiel Cup classification, even though all the electronics on board the "Unique" failed.
A number of shipyard innovations showed their potential in the IMS II class. In addition to the new "Patent3" from Jürgen Klinghardt and the "Flying Cala" from Uwe Wenzel, both from Bremen, the new "Westwind" from owner Peter Süselbeck also celebrated its debut off Kiel.
Designed as a thoroughbred cruiser/racer by the successful designer team Botin/Carkeek and built in Italy at the Cantiere del Pardo shipyard, the new "Westwind" finished in 4th place, with victory in this class going to Gerhardt Schultz's "Vihuela".
There was a pure Dehler duel in the IMS 3 and 4 class yachts, with Detlef Amlong's "Froschkönig" (Optima 101) coming out on top ahead of Henning Tebbe's "Cala Ventinove".
After the Kiel Cup, the big ships will continue today, Thursday, with the traditional Senate Prize, before the final Kiel Week winner of all races on the sea courses can be crowned after the long-distance race starting on Friday.
Total results:
Group: IMS 1
1st Hanseatic Lloyd, Christian Plump
2nd Unique, Bernd Dr Kriegel
3rd Ocean Warrior, Sverre H. Valeur
4th Extasy, Thomas Brügge
5th Sixty 4, Alv Gundlach
Group: IMS 2
1st VIHUELA, Gerhardt Schultz
2nd Niramo, Sönke Meier-Sawatzki
3. Zeebeer 3, Ad van Wijngaarden
4th Westwind, Peter Süselbeck
5th Pontus, Matthias Horstmann
Group: J 80 (Class)
1st Needles and Pins, Ulrich Münker
2nd Männersache, Hans-Ulrich Kringel
3rd Unicorn, Bernd Blombach
4th True Grit, Christof Rek
5th Galaxie, Andreas Michelchen
Group: Sprinta Sport (Class)
1st Steubenhöft, Thies Schenkelberg
2nd Grimmershörn, Malte Päsler
3. nada mas, Ralf Neumann
4th Griep to, Henning Buchmann
5th Kugelbake, Klaas Höpcke
Group: X-79 (Class)
1st Mamas Petit, Mathias Siemens
2. keep smiling, Ingo Bergmann
3. lütte-x, Eckart Ratschow
4th Hexagon, Anne-Marie Dorner
5. experience, Frank de Groot
Group: IMS 3/4 (IMS)
1st Frog King, Detlef Amlong
2nd Cala Ventinove, Henning Tebbe
3. semi-dry, Knut Freudenberg
4th Sisqua, Armin Balser
5th Caelestia, Olaf Höhn
