On 14 October, the first Cape 31 Gold Cup will get underway off the coast of Saint-Tropez. The Boom class, among modern keelboats, has grown rapidly over the past two years. Twenty-eight teams have entered the Gold Cup. Among them are more than half a dozen boats with GER sail numbers!
Eight GER boats at the Cape 31 Gold Cup
Marcus Brennecke, who has just announced his racing team’s entry into the 52 Super Series, is competing in the Gold Cup with his Cape 31 “Hatari”. Michael Berghorn is racing in the “halbtrocken 3.1”, whilst Stefan Jentzsch is competing in the “Black Pearl”. Max Augustin’s “H.E.A.T.” and Nikolai Burkart’s “Gecko d’or” are also in the line-up, as are Johannes Wackerhagen’s “lil’Desna” and two-time Melges 32 world champion Christian Schwörer with “La Pericolosa”.
Also taking part is the “Kalantis”, with sail number GER 80, and a crew led by Philipp Sudbrack and Joachim Aschenbrenner. There are also some well-known teams on the entry list from abroad: whether it’s Vittorio Lombardi Stronati’s “Django”, August Schram’s “Stella Maris” or other challengers – 28 boats from eleven countries have gathered at the host club, the Société Nautique Saint-Tropez, for the Gold Cup.
The practice races for the Gold Cup have already begun. The first race starts on 14 October. The competition will run right up to the final on 17 October. Marcus Brennecke describes the appeal of the 31-foot high-performance keelboats from his perspective as follows: “They are great regatta boats and good training boats. And they look like a mini TP52.”
Many of Germany’s top sailors and up-and-coming talents are embracing the Cape 31
Christian Schwörer’s “La Pericolosa” had won the most recent round of the 31st Mediterranean Circuit off Hyères. “I think we’ve got really good speed. We’re pretty fast. Beyond that, it’s just a matter of keeping things simple. Speed is king,” said Fabian Gielen, one of Germany’s top moth sailors and a crew member on “La Peligrosa”, which is in the top three of the season’s standings.
A glance at the crew lists for events in this trendy keelboat class, which offers plenty of sailing fun, makes it clear: The mix of a maximum of three permitted professionals and four to five amateurs includes many prominent figures from Olympic sailing and the America’s Cup, former match racing virtuosos and other top competitors. At the same time, the class also offers young talents excellent opportunities to get started.
"It’s brilliant to see the fleet growing like this. I think the Gold Cup will be fantastic with 28 boats." Sam Gilmour
Two GER teams are competing in the Gold Cup with an all-German line-up: On “lil’Desna” the crew consists of Nick Heuwinkel, Linus Döpp, Magnus Simon, Alexandra Lauber, Fiete Quaschner, Paul Struck and Johannes Wackerhagen himself. On “H.E.A.T.”, the line-up includes 470-class helmsman and tactician Malte Winkel, David Heitzig, Johann Kohlhoff, Mats Schönebeck, Dorian Heitzig, Svea Wrede, Max Augustin and Anton Germershausen – many successful Bundesliga sailors from the North German Regatta Club.
Heading into the Gold Cup debut with a record-breaking fleet
H.E.A.T. team founder Max Augustin only acquired the Cape 31 in July and is sailing it with a team made up almost entirely of amateurs. Only Malte Winkel is classified as a professional, due to his Olympic campaign in the 470 class, even without extensive prior experience on the Cape. The crew has been working very hard on the boat over the past few months, completing around eight days of training, and is now setting its sights on its first regatta together. Their baptism of fire will be the Cape 31 Gold Cup.
Mats Schönebeck, the 23-year-old “H.E.A.T.” trimmer, who co-won the German Club Championship as helmsman with the NRV last year, said in Saint-Tropez: “We don’t yet know how it will all turn out. But we’d like to show straight away what a Corinthian team made up of young people is capable of.” The Bundesliga sailor described the Cape fleet moored in the harbour of Saint-Tropez as “very impressive”.
August Schram, class president and also well known for his appearances on the ClubSwan 50 circuit aboard the yacht of the same name, “Stella Maris”, said on his way to the Gold Cup: “I am incredibly proud to be part of the state-of-the-art Cape 31 one-design class and to witness a record-breaking fleet gathering for our first Gold Cup in Saint-Tropez – one of the world’s most important centres for competitive sailing.”
Replay! A look back at the victory of Marcus Brennecke’s Team 31 in their ‘Hatari’ debut this summer in Puntaldia:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter