91st North Sea Week: Master sailors and North Sea lovers in their element

The classic North Sea Sailing Week (22 to 25 May) puts the spotlight on ocean sports around Heligoland over Whitsun. While parallel during the Brassfahrt While short-handed enthusiasts are in action in the Bay of Lübeck and Mecklenburg, team racing with larger crews takes centre stage in the North Sea region. This applies to both the classic North Sea Week racing programme and the championship series.

The offshore sailing championship for the North Sea Week

The offshore titles and medals at the International German Sailing Championship (IDM) will be awarded this year as part of the North Sea Week. Three challenging races are on the programme for the champion sailors:

1. The "Sundowner" of the Early Bird Series from Cuxhaven to Helgoland
2. The Capitell Cup "Around Heligoland"
3. The long-distance Pantaenius round Skagen

The tension will increase like a thriller over the course of the IDM Seesegeln from the beginning to the end of the North Sea Week, because the weighting of the results in the three races also increases from race to race. The results in the Sundowner of the Early Bird Series from Cuxhaven to Helgoland are multiplied by a factor of 1.25. The results in the Capitell Cup are multiplied by 1.5 before the points for performance in the XL final of the Pantaenius Rund Skagen Race are even doubled.

It is therefore also clear that the decisions will probably only be made at the last finish. With 16 boats in the North Sea - and also in the Baltic Sea at the end of the long haul - the IDM field is small but mighty. Jonas Hallberg starts the Offshore Sailing Championship as the newly crowned and confident overall winner of the Baltic 500 ORC with his new JPK 10.50 "Hinden".

Baltic 500 winner is also IDM favourite

On board the rocket "Hinden" are Jonas Hallberg's fellow Baltic 500 competitor Jonas Hiller as well as Luca Meyer and Luca Leidholdt, who have just been in double action in the Baltic 500 with their Dehler 30OD and are now joining forces with the "double Jonas". The "Hinden" will be the favourite for the championship if the IDM conditions inspire the smaller boats.

Among the large boats, the extended group of favourites includes at least Henri de Bokay's Elliot 52 SS "Rafale", Daniel Baum's Tison 48 single "Elida" and the Carkeek 47 "Störtebeker" with skipper Katrina Westphal. Other big names could also finish in the medal ranks in a strongly contested long-distance race. A few days before the first IDM starting shot for the Sundowner on 22 May at 8 p.m., the forecasts foreshadowed a potentially very dull "Sundowner" start.

"Rafale" navigator Robin Zinkmann explained: "It looked like there would be very little wind on Friday evening. Let's see how sailable it will be. We'll start with the current and all drift out. If there is very little wind, then the smaller boats will 'drift' like us. We'll have to hope that it doesn't turn out to be too piggish and that we can still finish in the midfield."

After 26 years: Can the "Uca" record be broken?

The midweek forecasts for the Capitell Cup around Helgoland suggested better conditions. Possibly even better for the Pantaenius Rund Skagen Race, even if these medium-term forecasts were still uncertain. In the ideal scenario for the 510 nautical mile long-distance classic, even the record of Dr Klaus Murmann's "Uca", which has not been broken for 26 years (43 hours, 46 minutes) is within reach.

This favourable scenario could occur if the fastest yachts in the Pantaenius Rund Skagen Race can free themselves as quickly as possible from the high pressure forecast for the start day after the start on 25 May at around 4.30 p.m. and make optimum use of the winds in the Skagerrak, which may later reach up to 30 knots. The first early routings of some crews had at least shown the chance of such conditions.

In addition to the sailing championship, the 91st edition of the North Sea Week 2026 will showcase the full diversity of offshore sailing in this country. Whether loyal regulars or professionally organised regatta teams, club teams, family crews and ambitious newcomers: they will all shape the regatta, sail against each other and celebrate together on the Red Rock. For club teams in particular, the North Sea Week also serves to train and promote young talent.

North Sea Week: plenty of sunshine and a new trophy in sight

This year's well-known regular participants include Berend Beilken's Nissen 31 "Ballerina 2", Carsten Burfeind's IMX-40 "Morran", Michael Haacke's X-35 "Maxima" and many more. Plenty of sunshine can be expected. "The Baltic 500 sailors can warm up their bones," said Robin Zinkmann with a twinkle in his eye, recalling the Baltic Sea two-handed test, which has just ended and was very cold at times this yearwhich the challenges of the North Sea may be countered by significantly warmer temperatures.

New for the 91st edition is the "Nordseewoche Line Honours Trophy". It rewards the fastest yacht by elapsed time across all races of the German Offshore Championship. The long-distance regatta is given a double weighting. In this way, the special character of offshore sailing is to be doubly emphasised. The new trophy is aimed in particular at high-performance offshore teams and adds an additional sporting dimension to the classic championship classification.

The prize will be awarded as a perpetual travelling prize and will only be awarded as part of a German Offshore Championship held at the Nordseewoche. With the introduction of the "Nordseewoche Line Honours Trophy", the Regattagemeinschaft Nordseewoche is underlining its ambition to further expand the series as an important platform for high-class offshore sailing and to establish it as the venue for the German Offshore Championship in the long term.

Click here for the sailing programme of the 91st North Sea Week.