The North Sea Week, a popular start to the season, provided even more excitement this year. But also for tough sailing. The yacht "Sinfonie Sylt" drifts 10 nautical miles west of Ringköbing Fjord.
The Pantaenius Rund Skagen regatta takes place every two years as part of the well-known North Sea Week. On 24 May, the boats set off from Helgoland towards the northern tip of Jutland and then sailed on to Kiel. The "Hexe" is currently leading in the ORCi1 class and is heading for Hanstholm (live tracker of the regatta at www.pantaenius.de/de/home/tracker-rund-skagen-2010.html).
An accident involving the "Sinfonie Sylt" 10 nautical miles west of Ringköbing Fjord is currently causing the most excitement. This morning, shortly before 11.00 a.m., Jan Gallbach, skipper of the "Norddeutschevermögen Hamburg", reported that the ship "Sinfonie Sylt" had suffered heavy water ingress. The crew, who were sailing in the long-distance regatta Pantaenius Rund Skagen, had all taken refuge in the life rafts and were subsequently rescued by the Danish rescue service by helicopter. The cause of the water ingress is still unknown.
Skipper Reinhold Riel called for the first time: "Suddenly the water in the boat was up to the sofas." The crew of five decided to dive for the sea valves; the water in the 70-foot Grand Soleil, a one-off, had risen up to 1.5 metres into the boat. The crew suspected that the problem had to do with the keel suspension.
A pump was winched from the helicopter, but the attempt to steer the ship failed. The yacht is now to be towed to Hvide Sande. The crew was flown to Esbjerg and is safe and sound.
88 yachts had registered for the Rund Skagen regatta, but only 55 started. With winds of 6 to 7 Beaufort and gusts up to force 9, several participants had already turned back, and there was some damage, including a mast break.
The rest of the North Sea week went smoothly and successfully. Sailing was not only for the many travelling prizes, but also for victory in the offshore part of the International German Sailing Championship. In the "Pantaenius Rund Skagen" race, there was also a Class 40 classification this time. The skippers of this class association even honoured the North Sea Week, as it will be included in the classification for their 2010 championship.
Marcus Boehlich from the Regattagemeinschaft Nordseewoche e.V. announced the winners of the two groups ORC International 1 and 2. In the group of larger boats, the "Emma", a new Swan 60 with Hamburg skipper Johann Killinger at the helm, became the new German champion in offshore sailing (protest deadline had not yet expired at the time of going to press). In the smaller yachts, the Dehler 29 "Cala... Ventinove" sailed to first place; she was skippered by Uwe Wenzel from Bremerhaven.
The conditions were not ideal on all days. Races had to be postponed, fog rolled in and the fourth race of the International German Sailing Championship even had to be cancelled. However, the Helgoland Eight still started, sometimes with visibility of just over 1000 metres. In any case, there was a good atmosphere: as always, the North Sea was duly celebrated at several parties.
Further information and results at www.nordseewoche.de
Marc Bielefeld
Freier Autor
