Strong performance by the German sailors at the Dragon Gold Cup off St. Tropez. The regatta, which is regarded as the unofficial world championship of the class, attracted 88 teams with boats from 21 nations to the picture-book area of the Côte d'Azur. A good quarter of the fleet had GER sail numbers at the start, including most of the country's well-known dragon sailors. The Gold Cup was won by helmsman Stephan Link from the Bayerischer Yacht-Club, Frank Butzmann (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) and Michi Lipp (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club).
The 2016 European Championship silver medallists got the regatta off to a perfect start with their opening victory. The following 5th, 15th, 21st and 5th places were enough to triumph in the large fleet. "We were at the front right from the start," reported Frank Butzmann, "there were no major wind issues and we sailed cleanly." Link and Butzmann have been in the same boat for eight years, while Lipp has been part of the well-established team for two years. Pedro Rebelo de Andrade's team secured second place in the overall standings ahead of Hendrik Witzmann, who was at the start with Olympians Markus Koy and Robert Stanjek. The "Troika" crew of Thomas Müller, three-time Olympic champion Jochen Schümann and Ingo Borkowski were unusually far behind in this Gold Cup edition: The trio finished the series in 20th place, having got off to a very good start in the last two races with 3rd and 11th place, but were unable to relieve themselves of the heavy burden of a 68th place without a string.
The winners of the amateur classification were overjoyed as they celebrated their biggest success to date in the dragon class: Reemt Reemtsma, Petra Reemtsma and Lorenz Jensen not only won the Corinthean classification, but also once again earned the respect of their competitors with sixth place in the overall classification. The crew has been competing in dragon regattas together for 16 years and, after finishing second in the amateur classification of the 2016 Dragon Gold Cup, took a decisive step forward this year. Recognisable from afar by the purple spinnaker, the team managed a series of good starts. The starboard start in one race, which led to eighth place in the end, will remain unforgotten among those involved. "Our helmsman was very hard-nosed," says Petra Reemtsma with a smile, "we were all alone there, no boat within 200 metres..." Jan Woortmann, Sönke Bruhns and Christian Halbig secured second place in the amateur classification in 15th place overall, while Philipp Ocker, Florian Grosser and Oliver Davies completed the all-German Corinthean podium in 17th place overall.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
