91st North Sea Week: In light wind poker - "Rafale" wins the Capitell Cup

They are a dynamic dozen even in light winds: the twelve-strong "Rafale" crew on Henri de Bokay's Elliot 52 SS took the line honours in the race around Helgoland and won the Capitell Cup. Malte Päsler steered the fast yacht to the finish line in the more demanding light winds of six to eight knots.

91st North Sea Week: "Rafale" wins the Capitell Cup Rund Helgoland

Henri de Bokay bought the former "Outsider" from Tilmar Hansen in March 2021. She is in good hands with the ambitious "Rafale" crew. Her name "Rafale" is a French expression for a gust of wind. There were plenty of them on Whitsunday around Helgoland at the North Sea Week The boat regularly competes in the big races of the sailing world. Although it has already been in use for a total of 20 seasons, the Rakete from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club, together with its crew, is still one of the top yachts in the battle for line honours and records.

So far, however, this has not been the case in light wind conditions, which are less favourable for the boat. "In light winds, we tended to struggle with the boat. Especially with the Cating Keel, we couldn't realise its full potential," says "Rafale" helmsman Malte Päsler. Which is why the current Nordseewoche performance in the Capitell Cup Rund Helgoland is all the more impressive.

"Rafale" won the Capitell Cup in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 24 seconds. Calculated, the hard-won line honours in the championship classification for the IDM Offshore were worth a time of 3 hours, 32 minutes, 23 seconds and eighth place in the Capitell Cup Rund Helgoland. The "Rafale" crew had to give way to seven boats in the ORC calculation. The ORC race was won by Lars Hiddes Mat 1120 "Pure" with a calculated time of 3 hours, 15 minutes and 29 seconds.

IDM Offshore: After the Capitell Cup is before the Pantaenius Rund Skagen race

After second place in the Sundowner and the ORC victory in the Capitell Cup Rund Helgoland, the Hidde crew from the Blankeneser Segel-Club has taken the lead in the IDM ranking for offshore sailors. The championship series is more of a race for the small boats in the light winds of the 91st North Sea Week. Martin Schlee's X-35 "Alexis" ("Wassersportverein Wulsdorf") and Kai Greten's one-tonner "Oromocto" (Hannoverscher Yacht-Club) follow in the overall IDM standings after two of three races.

Click here for the interim results of the International German Offshore Sailing Championship.

Just behind the IDM top three lurks Jonas Hallberg's fast new JPK 10.50 "Hinden" ahead of the final Pantaenius Rund Skagen race. The Baltic 500 winner has thus positioned herself well ahead of the start of the championship's premier race. According to the latest forecast, the grand finale from Helgoland around Skagen and to Kiel could be more of a race for the big boats.

The crews on the big boats were looking forward to the showdown in at least some strong to stormy winds. This also applies to the "Rafale crew. Malte Päsler said: "The weather forecast for around Skagen looks super exciting for us because there are a lot of half-wind and reaching courses. They really suit our boat."

Pantaenius Round Skagen: the "Uca" record in sight

According to the forecasts, the crew reckons it has a chance of at least breaking the record set by Dr Klaus Murmann's "Uca" in 2000 (43 hours, 46 minutes). The conditions will also favour other internationally proven boats and crews. These include, for example, Daniel Baum's team on the beautiful one-off "Elida".

While the crews were planning the sporting finale of the North Sea Week, the sailing life of the North Sea Week continued to rage in the Alexseal Race Village, at the boot Regattaparty in the Nordseehalle and throughout the island. This is where the North Sea Week traditionally brings everyone together: professionally organised crews as well as ambitious amateur crews, family teams and curious visitors to Heligoland.

However, not everyone turns night into day. "We also have fun at the event," says Päsler. "In the evenings too, of course. But you have to take it easy on the boat. You can't overdo it with the party." The team is preparing for the Pantaenius Rund Skagen race and sa second record attempt after 2024 which challengers have been battling for more than a quarter of a century.

The winners of the North Sea Week Capitell Cup

In addition to the IDM Offshore challengers, the Nordseewoche crews were also challenged in the Capitell Cup around Helgoland. Harald Brüning's Farr 30 Topas (Kieler Yacht-Club) once again won the race in ORC A ahead of Jörg Zieron's Tripp 40 "Amuse-Bouche" (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and the Archambault M34 "DoJo" (Segel-Verein Altona-Oevelgönne) of Lukas Langenbein and Dirk Selter.

In ORC B1, Michael Haacke's X-35 "Maxima" (Weser Yacht-Club Bremerhaven) won ahead of Mathias Matthies' J-88 "Jam" (Vereinigung Freier Segler) and Kai Brackmann's J-35 "Absolute Beginners" (Wassersportclub Lühe). In ORC B2, Tilman Giesen's Swan 44 "Electa" (Kieler Yacht-Club) won the race in the Capitell Cup Rund Helgoland, relegating Hagen Reese's Faurby 396 "Susewind" (Segler-Vereinigung Wilster) and Manfred Böttcher's "Kühnezug-Goldkatze" (Hamburger Segel-Club) to second and third place.

Arne Ipsen's Match 33 "Marlin" (Segelverein Finkenwerder von 1965) and Berend Beilkens Nissen 31 (Segel-Verein Altona-Oevelgönne) came out on top in the ORC-C groups 1 and 2. All individual results of the races of the North Sea Week and the intermediate results can be found here. Also on the road in the Capitell Cup round Helgoland were a classic duo and the Family Cruiser, who, however, went on a somewhat shorter course in the sunshine with a downwind start.

One North Sea week, all levels of performance

According to the organisers, the Family Cruiser class in particular shows what the North Sea Week also stands for: making offshore sailing a tangible experience. The Family Cruiser Cup offers crews who are slowly getting to grips with North Sea and offshore regattas, as well as family, friends and rookie crews, great opportunities to get a taste of regatta sailing around Heligoland safely and without a spinnaker or gennaker.

The new race director Uwe Wenzel sees building the bridge between competitive sailing and family fun at the North Sea Week as an important task: "Of course, it suits me that I used to sail a lot of regattas myself. I try to put myself in people's shoes. I started out as a beginner, I almost always came last, I was slow. I can put myself in the family cruiser's shoes quite well. And I can also put myself in the shoes of the top people because we were also at the top sailing level."

The new race director of the North Sea Week was able to take stock of the 91st edition of the North Sea classic on Whitsun Sunday. Uwe Wenzel said: "I'm already satisfied. The weather is fine for now. We have a bit less wind, but that suits me because I can't stand so many waves on the dinghy. The races have all gone perfectly so far. Some of them were a bit short because we didn't have enough wind. But from what I've heard so far, the participants are quite happy."

"Good hope" for the Pantaenius Round Skagen Race

Uwe Wenzel was already looking ahead to the upcoming Pantaenius Rund Skagen race, which is held every two years and is expected to start in the late afternoon on Whit Monday. Wenzel said: "I was race officer at Rund Bornholm for many years. Rund Skagen is a whole different ball game because you often have a lot of wind in the North Sea and then a calm in the Baltic. That's quite a challenge for those who are sailing there. The weather forecast at the moment is that it will be quite moderate. There will probably be a few strong wind phases in between, but nothing extreme, so I'm hopeful that they'll make it to Kiel safely."