The organisers of the Oevelgönne Sailing Club, founded in 1901 (SCOe) had started promoting this double anniversary event well in advance. Their strategy paid off: instead of the usual figure of just under 50 boats seen in recent years, there were 82 entries on the list this time – a record. Although the Elbe presented a challenging regatta course in gusty, strong winds, 70 boats ultimately crossed the finish line. This made the 90th Pagensand Regatta the largest and most impressive edition to date of this traditional race.
Elbab at low tide
At 12.00 sharp, race director Martin Krings gave the go-ahead for the first start: the youth sailing cutters, which sailed down the Elbe with the ebbing tide – in keeping with the tradition of this race. Anyone familiar with the German Weather Service’s forecast had been forewarned: south-westerly winds of force 5 with gusts of up to 30 knots. In fact, gusts of more than 25 knots were recorded at their peak.
The youth sailing cutters had reached a pragmatic decision across all clubs: one boat remained at the jetty, and its crew was distributed amongst the other three cutters – very much in the spirit of good seamanship. Six starting groups, each 15 minutes apart – necessary to accommodate the enormous range of yardstick values in this regatta, from 79 to 120, under changing tidal conditions – sent the fleet out at intervals onto the course, which was around 35 nautical miles long.
For almost 30 years, the course has run from the start in front of Hamburg’s marina down the Elbe to Buoy 92 at Pagensand-Nord, then round the southern side of the Elbe past two regatta buoys – before heading back to the finish line off Wedel. The classic course around the island of Pagensand is now a thing of the past: the increasing silting up of the Elbe’s secondary channels and the growing draught of modern yachts are simply no longer compatible.
Spi or Chaos
On the stretch from Stadersand to Pagen-Nord, a south-westerly wind meant tacks ranging from broad reach to half-wind. Some crews tried their hand at using a spinnaker or gennaker. Depending on their skill, this was rewarded with either a thrilling glide or chaos on the foredeck.
Positive effect of the wind direction: despite the pressure in the air, the water remained relatively calm. With a north-westerly wind of this strength, the participants would have faced the much-feared wind-against-tide wave – but this time it failed to materialise.
A colourful fleet
The participating boats were more diverse than they had been for years. From Elb-H dinghies to cruiser dinghies and keelboats of all ages, right through to trapeze dinghies. The youngest entrant was the JND 39 “Sakura”, owned by Admirals Cup participant Thomas Reinecke, which had only been christened the evening before the regatta. His crew secured line honours in the longest regatta of the Elbe season – covering a good 35 nautical miles – with a sailing time of 3:21:32. What makes this figure so remarkable is that the “Jalla Jalla” (BSC), an Australian Lightweight Sharpie – a trapeze dinghy unrivalled on the Elbe – took just 8½ minutes longer. The slowest boat in the field took just under two hours longer – but, thanks to the staggered start times, still crossed the finish line alongside the rest of the fleet.
On a corrected time basis – that is, after the Yardstick correction – Ingo Ballerstein won in his Melges 15 “Alive and Kicking”, entered by the organising club, SCOe. His lead over the runner-up, “Jalla Jalla”, was 80 seconds. Third place went to ‘Gammel’, the 20m² dinghy cruiser owned by SCOe chairman Sven-Ove Baumgartner – finishing just under 20 minutes behind the leaders.
Particularly noteworthy were fifth and sixth place: both went to youth sailing cutters. The “Möwe von Köhlfleet” from the SCOe won the cutter team competition.
Elbe Super Sailing Tour enters its third year
The Pagensand Regatta has been part of the Elbe Super Sailing Tour (ESST) since 2024 – an annual series of Yardstick regattas on the waters of the Lower Elbe, starting or finishing at the Hamburg marina. Eight clubs are behind this joint project. There is a standardised entry procedure via manage2sail, a genuine ranking list, and a professional online and social media presence. This gave a noticeable boost to regatta sailing on the Elbe. By the second season, in 2025, there were already 102 boats in the rankings.
The big surprise: the Elbmirals Cup
Following two swiftly resolved protests and the prize-giving ceremony – which featured photos of the race on an LED screen and musical accompaniment – came the highlight of the evening. The ESST organisers presented the Elbmirals Cup – a new team classification for the Elbe Super Sailing Tour, inspired by the Admirals Cup, which was held again last year after a long hiatus.
The rules have been deliberately kept simple. Each team consists of one boat with a yardstick of over 100 and one with a yardstick of 100 or less – in other words, one faster and one slower boat. The results of each boat’s best three ESST races count towards the final score. The team with the most points is crowned ‘Elbmiral’. Teams and potential partners can now register at elbmiralscup.com Sign up and go to the dating event.