On Monday 20 July 2026, Travemünde Week came up against a limitation that regatta sailors are well aware of, but which is rarely so clearly apparent: not every wind that is suitable for sailing is sufficient to ensure a safe regatta programme. Off Travemünde, following rain and a drop in wind, it was the swell in particular that remained the problem.
It was already clear at the race committee’s early-morning meeting that the third day of racing would be difficult. To begin with, the red-and-white-striped response flag was hoisted for all classes – the signal for a delayed start. As the day went on, the rain stopped and the wind dropped slightly. The short, steep waves remained.
Why the wave became the limiting factor
The decision was taken on several courses, not only because of the conditions for the sailors. According to Travemünde Week, crews of the starting vessels were unable to anchor their boats reliably on certain regatta courses. This meant that the conditions for regular starts were not in place.
Among those affected were the RS Tera and the RS 500 classes, which were holding their international championships as part of the RS Games. There were also problems on the Medienbahn. The crew from the Zurich Yacht Club made two attempts, but had to abort both times because the anchor wouldn’t hold. The J/22 and H-boat races were subsequently cancelled.
J/22s and H-boats: Titles decided without a final race
For the J/22s and H-boats, the cancellation also meant the end of their Travemünde Week. The results from the previous day stood.
In the J/22 class, Wolf Jeschonnek from Berlin, sailing with Frank Sturm and Klaus Lund, won the German Open for the first time. Jeschonnek has competed in Travemünde on several occasions, including once at the World Championships and three times at the German Open. Having narrowly missed out on victory last year, he told the organisers that he had focused even more intensively on the boat’s trim. His crew would have liked to have sailed again on Monday, but the waves were “really borderline”.
The remaining podium places were taken by the Hamburg teams led by Thorsten Spötter and Andreas Dillmann.
In the H-boats, the Berlin family crew of Holger, Jan and Uwe Köhne took the win. Three victories and two third-place finishes were enough to secure overall victory ahead of the Berlin teams led by Andreas Krause and Jens Hanisch.
The current league tables for the current and previous seasons are available via the official results on Manage2Sail available.
Finns set sail; Vauriens kick off a long day at the World Championships
Not all classes had to stay ashore. The Finn dinghies did, at least, complete one race. There was no change at the top: André Budzien from Schwerin won again, ahead of Fabian Lemmel from Berlin. His lead remained narrow, however, at just one point. Up to three races were still to be completed at that stage. In third place was Jürgen Eiermann from Rastatt, some way behind the leaders.
The World Championships began on Monday for the Vaurien class. The class kicked off with a long day of racing that lasted well into the evening. One of the highlights on the international stage was the participation of two teams from Angola. These crews, who have travelled a long way, are no strangers to Travemünde: teams from Angola also competed on the Baltic Sea at the 2018 Vaurien World Championship.
According to the organisers, team coach Vicente Mendonça pointed out that his sailors were used to the wind and waves from their training on the Atlantic. After the first three races, the Italians Olmo Cerri and Giola Bertolani were in the lead with three consecutive wins.
RS classes: between taking a detour and waiting
The programme for the RS classes is particularly extensive. With around 200 boats, the RS Aero class makes up the largest fleet at the event. The European Championships and Youth World Championships in Aero classes 5, 6, 7 and 9 have been underway since Monday. The fleets sailed well into the evening, which is why results were not available until late.
Anyone wishing to understand the sporting significance of the RS classes in Travemünde will find the YACHT background article on the subject here, Why the RS Games 2026 in Travemünde will play a key role.
RS Venture Connect found an alternative solution. They moved their European Championships to Pötenitzer Wiek, where they were able to sail a more extensive programme. In the yellow group, the Spaniards Pau Toni Homar and Ramón Gutierrez impressed with consistently good results and are therefore among the favourites.
For other RS classes, however, Monday turned out to be a day of waiting. The RS Tera and RS 500 classes did not race due to anchoring problems. Four races were scheduled for both classes on the following final day. The RS 700 and RS 800 classes also did not complete any new races on Monday; three races were scheduled for each of them.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital