Two-handed mixed offshore world championship: British coup in Lorient, German duo miss their dream goal

Maggie Adamson & Cal Finlayson (GBR) are the 2024 Two-handed Mixed Offshore World Champions, beating the French top favourites Elodie Bonafous and Basile Bourgnon into second place by just 65 seconds in the 151 nautical mile World Championship final "Lorient Agglomération Race". Charlotte Yven and Lois Berrehar were the second French team to finish on the podium with bronze.

Strong wind final for the Two-handed Mixed Offshore World Championship

Lina Rixgens (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) and Sverre Reinke (Turn- und Sportverein Schilksee von 1947) were the only German participants in the field of 22 crews at the Two-handed Mixed Offshore World Championships in France. With fourth place in the qualifying race, they had confidently reached the final of the best ten world championship crews. "A place in the top five would be the dream goal," said Lina Rixgens before the start of the final. Despite a successful start, it didn't quite materialise.

The Lorient Agglomération regatta marked the final of the 2024 Two-handed Mixed Offshore World Championship. Like the two qualifying races between the competitors, who were divided into two groups, the decisive race was also an intense battle in strong wind conditions. Winds of 30 knots and waves four to five metres high determined the match, as did flat conditions at the end.

Two-handed mixed offshore world championship: the devil was in the detail

During the race, the wind direction turned 180 degrees. In addition, the islands off the coast of Brittany influenced the conditions. Lina Rixgens and Sverre Reinke started the race promisingly well and were in the leading group after the start in the evening. However, they then made a strategic decision about halfway through the cross to the Glénans, which backfired.

There had previously been two options: Either to turn left into a weather system or to choose the other side. Sverre Reinke reported: "We were at the back of the leading group, I think in sixth place at the time. The first six boats were close together, within about a two-mile radius. We kept ourselves in the middle between the two different options and then saw what the options we were given would bring."

Sverre Reinke continued: "When we realised at some point that all the boats to our left were slowing down and that we were starting to turn right, it was clear to us: OK, the weather forecast with the right-hand turn will probably prevail. So we kept to the right-hand side of the field. We did very, very well at first until we came to a very, very abrupt halt. After that, we had no chance of getting over to the other side."

Ten hours of bobbing in the doldrums

It got even worse, as Sverre Reinke said: "Normally, the transition would have taken one to two hours until the new northerly wind should have set in. For us, it took ten hours, bobbing along at less than four knots. And less than four knots of wind with some waves meant that we made no progress at all."

The passage cost Lina Rixgens and Sverre Reinke their desired position in the top ten. They crossed the finish line the next day just under two hours after the winners. At the front of the peloton, the lead changed hands several times in the light breeze of the final stage. A few miles before the finish, the first four boats were heading towards the start and finish harbour of Lorient bow to bow when they switched to spinnakers.

The young Brits Maggie Adamson and Cal Finlayson pulled their code zero on the last of the 151 nautical miles. The GBR boat crossed the finish line just 65 seconds ahead of the French top favourites Elodie Bonafous and Basile Bourgnon after a gripping four-way battle. Charlotte Yven and Lois Berrehar took third place. The Belgians Jonas Gerckens and Djemila Tassin, who were in third place in the tracking, missed out on the podium due to a technical error.

Champion under sail and with the violin

The young Brit Maggie Adamson was overjoyed at the finish about her coup at the Two-Handed Mixed Offshore World Championship in France, saying: "I can't believe it happened. We hung in there, we never give up. In the end we saw a little breeze towards the coast. That's where we went in. We held the code zero a little longer, we had both spinnakers ready to go. But we had the feeling that we were a bit faster with this setting. It's just these little things; sticking your head out of the boat, that worked. We just stayed focussed."

To beat such great sailors is frankly unreal, especially in Lorient, the home of French offshore racing." Cal Finlayson

Her sailing partner Cal Finlayson described the final thriller from his point of view:. "It was a good battle, we were all bobbing around the last mark. That was about 24 nautical miles from the finish. It was all about getting the boat moving in the shutdown, which is always a bit difficult. The two French teams got moving and pushed ahead of us. From then on, it was blow after blow."

Award ceremony at the Éric Tabarly Sailing City Museum

The prize-giving ceremony for the Two-handed Mixed Offshore World Championship took place at the Éric Tabarly Sailing City Museum in the famous harbour of Lorients La Base. All participating teams were invited on stage. After the charming presentation ceremony, world champion Maggie Adamson, who is also a master violinist, surprised the World Championship family with a medley of songs from the Shetland Islands - Maggie's home in the most northerly region of the UK.

It was difficult to find suitable weather windows and get the fleet safely across the courses. They did a really good job." Lina Rixgens

"It was definitely a good event, even if we were a bit crestfallen at the end because we were so well in the race at first and it could have turned out better," summarised Sverre Reinke. Lina Rixgens agrees: "The event was great, all in all a really cool event. You can just tell that Lorient Grand Large has experience with events like this. The two race officers did a really good job. Very calm from the start, but clear."

With top speeds in excess of 20 knots and an average speed of around 15 knots, the Sun Fast 30 OD World Championship boats also proved their worth. The World Championship crews sailed boats provided for a registration and charter fee of around 4000 euros. Lina Rixgens and Sverre Reinke have owned a Sun Fast 30 OD themselves since this season and know the advantages.

Sailors' wish: more races at a world championship

"The boats are relatively easy to handle, even for crews who haven't seen them before. They all fit into a 40-foot container and can also be transported by road," says Lina Rixgens. Regarding the World Championship format of just one qualifying race and one final for the best ten crews, Lina Rixgens said: "Three races would be better. Sailing is also a technical sport..."

More races can better compensate for technical breakdowns, for example. Lina Rixgens explains: "It's different whether you're sailing on your own boat or a chartered one. We always had three hours before a race to familiarise ourselves with the boat, prepare it and check all the equipment. And you don't see everything. A few more races in total would be nicer."

The two-handed mixed offshore world championship organised by Lorient Grand Large in collaboration with the French Sailing Federation FFVoile, the Yacht Club De France and the Royal Ocean Racing Club was also supported by the World Sailing Association. The idea of a keelboat competition for the Olympics is far from off the table after the first cancellation by the IOC.

Two-handed mixed offshore world championship: test run for the Olympics

"We have new information," said Sverre Reinke. "The World Championships here were a test run for a possible Olympic format. However, 2032 at the earliest is in the sights. There is already a list of points that they want to work on. A survey will be sent out to the sailors asking what they think of the event. They will probably continue to work on the topic in order to propose it for the Olympics."

There is still a long way to go until then. At the end of their first season with their own Sun Fast 30 OD, Lina Rixgens and Sverre Reinke are focussing on next year for the time being. "If we can organise our own one-design field for the Sun Fast 30 OD for the Fastnet Race, we would love to sail it." Without our own field, that would be rather difficult, as Sverre Reinke points out: "Then we probably wouldn't be allowed to start with a boat under nine metres in length."

The German duo also have one eye on the next edition of the 2025 Two-Handed Mixed Offshore World Championship, which will be held off Cowes on the Isle of Wight in September.

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