Roma per Due: German mini duo wins despite stormy conditions
YACHT
· 24.04.2026
A flying start off the Italian coast: German mini 6.50 newcomer Jannes Llull makes a spectacular debut off the Italian coast with his co-skipper Juliane Hausmann. The pair won the Mini-6.50 Proto classification in the traditional "Roma per Due" offshore regatta in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the west coast of Italy. Stormy conditions had previously forced many participants to retire. But Llull and Hausmann fought their way to the finish line - and took first place.
Strong debut from Jannes Lull and Juliane Hausmann
The two did not have much time to train. The 20-year-old Llull only took over the mini 6.50 prototype at the beginning of the year. The boat has only been in the water for a few weeks and is sailed off the coast of southern France. And now this result. Jannes Llull has written down his impressions for YACHT:
"As the only prototype that didn't give up, the victory feels a little strange. But going out, persevering and arriving safely was the right decision. The learning curve was enormous. It could have gone very differently.
At the start line of the Roma per Due, half of the field gave up before a sail had even been set. The forecast: 50 knots, maximum waves of five metres, which can be very hard on the 6.5 metre boats. Juliane Hausmann, my co-skipper, and I thought about it for a moment and set off anyway. The strategy was clear: far to the west, sail conservatively, bring the boat safely to the finish. I'm 20 years old, this was my first regatta on the new boat, not the right time for experiments.
The start was nice. Dolphins accompanied us to the first buoy, the wind was light and we were able to make good progress in these conditions. For the first 1.5 days, we headed west around our waypoint, which we wanted to use to avoid the strait between Sicily and the mainland.
Unforeseen storm
Then the second night. Between Sardinia and Sicily, a storm built up that no weather model had predicted, four and a half metre waves, gusts of around 35 knots, thunderstorms at night. As all outside contact is forbidden in the Class Mini, no mobile phones, no internet, no weather reports during the competition, we had no idea what we were in for. In hindsight, we can say that we sailed quite accurately into the centre of the strong wind zone in an attempt to avoid the predicted storm.
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The night was tough, because between strong thunderstorms, confusion about where this wind was suddenly coming from and increasing wind, we had to switch from regatta mode to survival mode. However, the night passed and as the wind and waves became more consistent and we adjusted to the weather, the boat was running at seven knots on the cross up and down the wave crests towards the next waypoint. After 35 hours, we finally rounded Ustica.
Travelling clothesline
The way back seemed relaxed at first, first under Code 0, then under gennaker, we were able to cover the first 100 kilometres quickly. Meanwhile, our boat turned into a moving clothes horse, because the long cross to Ustica had completely soaked us and the boat, so we let everything dry on deck and in the mast while we sailed towards our destination at eight knots.
On the last half we were hit by two more lulls and two thunderstorms. The masthead was buzzing with static electricity and lightning struck less than 50 metres from us. We had to switch off the on-board electronics completely, they went crazy right up to the finish.
Reaching the finish line without updates
The support boat was cancelled early on. As a result, we didn't receive updates on the positions of the competitors and the ranking as planned and didn't see another boat in the Mini class for three and a half days. However, we arrived at the finish line as the first and only prototype that had not given up despite the weather.
Our conservative course turned out to be exactly the wrong decision because the weather had changed so drastically during the regatta. Nevertheless, we are glad that we persevered and made it safely to the finish.
For a first regatta on my boat and under these conditions, I am more than satisfied. The team also worked well with Juliane right from the start, without a good atmosphere on board it would have quickly become a torture. The miles for my mini-transat qualification have been sailed. I'm off to Genoa for the first solo regatta over 540 nautical miles."
More info about Jannes Llull and his project you can read here.
