After a windless day, the Bay of Lübeck once again offered ideal sailing conditions for the participants of the Travemünde Week. Contrary to the morning weather forecast, a good sailing breeze prevailed, allowing the Finns and Corsairs three more races to determine their winners. The Topcats even extended their day of competition with the Trave Races in the evening, while the Varianta class started their best-of competition in the afternoon.
Berlin Finn sailors in top form
Fabian Lemmel underlined his status as the strongest German Finn sailor at the moment with an impressive performance. The Berliner, who had already won the Warnemünde Week and was the best German at the European Championships off Naples in 13th place, gave the competition no chance. With six wins in eight races, he dominated the field and relegated his Dutch rivals Ronald van Klooster and Cees Scheurwater to second place. "The area is always fun. We had everything from sun and rain, from little wind to good breeze and decent waves," enthused Lemmel after his triumph. He particularly emphasised the location on the Mövenstein with plenty of space for participants and equipment. Only the ramp was "a bit tricky in onshore winds".
Trembling with the corsairs
In the Corsair class, the eventual winners Dirk Braun and Jürgen Kruck from Wuppertal had to tremble for success until the last race. After a slip-up on the first day, they could not allow themselves another slip-up. However, with five wins in the series, they showed nerves of steel and secured first place ahead of Matthias van Holt/Jens Hedfeld from Lohheider See and Dieter Hafenmair/Jonna Braun from Bad Wörrishofen.
European Championship of the Topcats
The 50-year-old twins Sascha and Rene Treichel from Wolfsburg came out on top at the European K1 Topcats Championship. The 2018 and 2022 world champions won despite old, faded sails after five races and then went one better in the evening show races in front of the Passat. Even in the pouring rain, they left the head of the international class association, Mathias Equiluz, with foresailor Susanne Wallner from Austria, behind. The Chiemsee team of Sebastian Pohl/Marco Schleich completed the podium in the intermediate European Championship classification. German teams also dominated the other Topcat categories: Robert Zank and his foresailor Tim Stiegler took a commanding lead in the K2 category, while Paul Säger topped the K3 field.
Variantas with small field
Participation in the Variantas was disappointing. With only twelve teams taking part, the regatta, which was originally advertised as the German Championship, lost its official status and was downgraded to the best German competition. After the first races, Frank Schönfeldt from Hamburg, known as the "singing pirate", sailed at the head of the field with his skipper Gerd Becker.
