Even after the second yacht at sea continues to lead the J/V 43 "Red 2" led the field at the eighth edition of the Baltic 500. With around 120 nautical miles to the finish, the organisers from the Yacht Club Strande were expecting "Red 2" skipper Mathias Müller von Blumencron (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and Co-skipper Cole Brauer (New York Yacht Club) on Saturday evening.
The J/V 43s power the Baltic 500
She was still hot on her heels on Saturday morning in the battle against the cold the sister ship "Vineta" (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) with Wolf Scheder-Bieschin and Arnt Bruhns ahead of the Swedish Shogun 50 "Fantastic 4" with Peter Bolvig/Jakob van Ohlen, the Solaris 50 "Faju" (Kieler Yacht-Club) with Fabius Müller-Kauter/Aike Brahe and the Pure 49 "Gorre" (Sail-Lollipop Regatta Verein) with Matthias Schernikau/Urs Kohler.
In the overall ORC standings, the smaller boats played to their strengths in the second half of the Baltic 500, especially as the larger boats had long since set sail. Jonas Hallberg's new JPK 10.50 "Hinden", which had just been delivered to Kiel, took the lead. Together with Jonas Hiller, her skipper is experiencing the first regatta with the rocket, which was one of the ORC favourites from the outset.
"The night was quiet. There were no more cancellations. I count 32 active crews. Of course, the field is now bunching together as the big ones are already on the cross at the front. This will be relativised later, at the latest when the wind shifts further to the right this evening," reported Baltic 500 co-founder and race director Cord Hall on Saturday morning. And this too: "'Red 2' should be possible tonight. With luck still in daylight."
In the meantime, 16 two-handed crews have officially abandoned the Baltic 500. The others continue to fight. This also applies to Baltic 500 perennial favourites Oliver Schmidt-Rybandt and Clara Witthenrich, who have once again made their boat name of the Dehler 30OD "Play Harder" their programme. However, they have toned down one hardness considerably, as the skipper describes in a marvellous little homage from the sea:
By Oliver Schmidt-Rybandt
"According to my theory, from the second spinnaker change with a wet sail, it is more advantageous in terms of weight to have a heater installed than to sail with an inevitably cold boat. That's why our little racing boat is already contesting its sixth Baltic 500 with the diesel heater running almost non-stop. The device weighs just a few kilograms and consumes a maximum of one litre every four hours of full load operation. This is enough to keep the boat warm inside even when the outside temperature is close to freezing and, above all, to dry out any wetness quickly.
In other words: the wet spinnaker quickly loses its not inconsiderable additional weight. The great Willi Dehler coined the appropriate phrase for this: "Cosiness creates victory." The small boat has already achieved this four times in the Baltic 500. The wetness that she got rid of via heating air and the additional fighting morale she gained may have played a role.
Even at the start, it was a dream to come below deck with wet clothes after an eternal struggle on the foredeck and to be warm again in a short time." Oliver Schmidt-Rybandt
Things looked good up to the Fehmarnbelt. We were well ahead of the field, had the class competition in the Baltic 500 behind us and were making excellent progress. The faster boats ahead got the spin first. It was easy to see how the spinnakers were being recovered everywhere and then the fleet continued close-hauled on port tack. We could already see the spinnaker on the water, had laid the dropline and the genoa halyard was clear. Another 500 metres, 400, 300 and then: nothing.
While the boats that had just been travelling close ahead were running away, we easily stood on the spot for three hours, being pushed through the Belt by the current. A bottomless wickedness. But as is sometimes the case: sometimes you're unlucky and sometimes the others are lucky. The evening was stressful. Changing sails, winds between 0 and 25 knots, rain and poor progress. It didn't consolidate until the night, leaving us to fall into smaller doldrums here and there and ending in champagne sailing under A2 in glorious sunshine from midday. The still cold air didn't detract from the fun.
Did I mention the heating? We switch it on again in the evening and congratulate ourselves again every time we go below deck. A small addition to last night: It's nice when it's warm below deck. Too bad if you don't have any of it. I cycled between 11 pm and 5 am..."
On-board heating as a 2026/2027 winter project?
Many crews don't have the convenience of on-board heating in the Baltic 500. "Salicornia" co-skipper Arno Böhnert said: "No, unfortunately we don't have onboard heating because someone was really clever with the configuration and saved the weight. Does he regret that right now? I think so. Is that perhaps the next winter project? I think so too. It wouldn't have been that difficult. I didn't think it was necessary at the time. Well, you never stop learning..."
Nevertheless, "the spirit is high on board", said Arno Böhnert. His summary of the second Baltic 500 night at sea: "Last night on the way to Læsø there were quite a few thunderstorm cells around us. Ten miles from Læsø we said: better safe than sorry. We took the A2 down and the A5 up. In the end, we might have got through on the A2 after all. That probably cost us two miles in total. After Læsø, we gathered a bit of strength in the reach, tidied up the boat and didn't set a J0 for the time being. We could have set it again. But it was more about power management and keep-your-house-clean."
Demonstration of power: the JPK 10.50 in the Baltic 500
On Saturday morning, the situation was clear from Böhnert's point of view: "We're now on the long upwind leg here. 'Mariejo' is right next to us. It's going well so far. The spirits are high." Arno Böhnert wasn't the only one to notice that Jonas Hallberg's new JPK 10.50 "Hinden" was speeding away conspicuously.
Böhnert said: "What the JPK 10.50 is now delivering is from another planet. So, wow, that's a real demonstration of power! Especially on the course here, it simply drives away on the long downwind run. That's really impressive and sets a new benchmark. And of course in combination with the racing value. It will definitely sail well, but the racing value is really impressive."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
