They're sailing again! Germany's longest Baltic Sea sailing marathon has been underway since midsummer's day. Parallel to the opening of the 131st Kiel Week in the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre, 72 boats, some of them very different, were sent into the race over 900 nautical miles with the sound of the cannon from the Poel cog "Wissemara". It leads its challengers from the southernmost to the northernmost point of the Baltic Sea. The famous yellow Töre buoy, on which all arriving crews take their finisher photos, awaits the teams in the Swedish province of Norrbottens.
The initial high is followed by a sharp low
This beautiful area is considered a treat by long-distance sailors. There are hardly any tides and almost continuous daylight in summer. The Baltic Sea offers a wide range of conditions, from very light to very strong winds from all possible directions. Just looking at the chart makes you want to sail the entire route. Over 900 nautical miles, the course offers an attractive mix of holiday cruising and ocean racing, but is also considered challenging. The various crews are correspondingly ambitious.
The anniversary edition started at midday on 21 June. The MidsummerSail challengers were launched into the longest Baltic Sea race in four starting groups, each 15 minutes apart. It was almost like being in Cowes when the legendary Rolex Fastnet Race is fired from the old brass cannons.
The organisers said that an area of low pressure is expected in the coming days, which will put the participants and the Kieler Woche starters to the test with strong winds at the beginning of the new week. MidsummerSail conductor Robert Nowatzki from Agora direct MidsummerSailGmbH said on Sunday: "The start went well with little wind. Now we are looking forward to a strong low from the west/south-west. Many are also looking forward to it, especially the big and heavy boats - sledging at last! The single-handed multis are already taking a closer look at what's coming...."
I hope it won't be quite as bad as predicted." Robert Nowatzki
According to the latest weather forecasts, the organisers were expecting "winds of 35, 40 knots, decent gusts and thunderstorms", said Robert Nowatzki. He continued: "It will probably start to chill on Monday morning. At least from the right direction, but with a lot of power, hopefully not too much power."
Will the MidsummerSail records fall?
Whether new record times can be set this year remains to be seen after the first somewhat tough night. The monohull record for the route is held by the Class40 "Red", which completed the race in 2022 in 4 days, 19 hours, 7 minutes and 46 seconds. Skipper Mathias Müller von Blumencron, Felix Oehme and Wolf Scheder achieved the feat. In the same year, "Flaneur" was the fastest multihull to cross the finish line after 5 days, 38 minutes and 16 seconds. The fastest corrected IRC time is held by the Swedish "Luft" with 6 days, 18 hours, 38 minutes and 28 seconds.
The classic MidsummerSail prizes are once again one of the incentives this year: a trophy and 1000 euros in prize money will be awarded to the "Line Honours" winners on one and several hulls. The smallest crew arriving at the finish and the smallest boat at the finish will also be honoured in this way. The IRC winner will be honoured with a medal in a case after the final on the 1670-kilometre course.
After the first night and the first 100 nautical miles, Michael Höfgen's Arcona 385 "Lightworks" with Jasper Marwege, Lutz Orgelmann and Bastian Körbes was in the lead ahead of the Danish Dragonfly 40 "Flying Dragon" with Jens Thuesen and Tor Beltor and the X-Yacht "MadameX2" with André Engelke, Markus Straub, Peter Eckhardt, Max Engelke and Hendrik Decker. "Lightworks" skipper Michael Höfgen said with a view to the approaching low: "Boat and crew are prepared."
MidsummerSail: the teams and the intermediate results
Click here to go directly to the tracking and the interim results. If you want to know more about the participating crews you can find the information here. Click on the green button on the left to view the details of each team.
