On short and long distances, on the inner and outer fjord, out into the Kattegatt, large and small yachts will once again be sailing for a variety of coveted trophies. Above all, of course, for the Blue and Blue-Yellow Ribbons for the fastest yacht based in the fjord and the fastest yacht from outside.
It is no longer just the large IMS, DH and ORC club yachts that compete during the Autumn Week, but more and more standard classes such as X-99, X-79, Beneteau 25, 806 or the sports boat class, the Nordic folk boats or the catamarans. The J-80s will be sailing their German Open for the second time this year as part of the autumn week. Dirk Manno from Flensburg will be one of the title contenders with his "Mann-o-Mann". The Swan Yachts will be sailing their "SWAN Baltic Sea Challenge" for the 11th time from 14-17 September and the Catamaran Club Flensburger Förde (CCFF) will also be organising its Catamaran Cup for the 11th time.
In total, the Flensburg Sailing Club is once again expecting more than 200 yachts with around 1000 sailors, who will be sent onto the course in 20 classification groups. The winners of this year's IDM Seesegeln in the classes IMS I-IV, "L+M Hispaniola" by Horst Mann (YCS), the "Lollipop" by Elke and Jan Hinrichs (SLRV) and the "No Limits" by Sven Christensen (KYC/ Segelsportfreunde Flensburg Harrislee, SSFH) will also be taking part. Many of the participants in the "Nord LB Baltic Sprint Cup", such as Volker Andrae's Inshalla VI (NRV) or Tilmar Hansen's "Outsider" (KYC) will also be coming to Glücksburg. The organising Flensburger Segel-Club is very satisfied with the number of participants this year. According to regatta chairman Claus-Otto Hansen, the decline in the number of entries seen in previous years in the compensation classes appears to have been halted. Apparently there are even signs of a slight upward trend. A pleasing development from the organiser's point of view, not least in view of the International German Sailing Championship, which the Flensburg Sailing Club will be hosting next year as part of the Fjord Week.
On the first weekend, the "Sonwik" Cup and the "hanseboot" Cup are on the programme again, starting with the short races. While the standard classes sail on up-and-downwind courses off Schausende, the IMS classes sail their courses around the fairway buoys of the inner fjord. On 15 September, the first long-distance race will take place in the Little Belt. The impressive Swan Yachts will also be there again. With 24 participants, significantly more boats have registered than in previous years. For the first time, there will also be a prize for the overall winner of the "Baltic Sea Challenge" and the "Net Jet Baltic Sea Challenge", a regatta launched last year, also only for Swan yachts, which takes place off Copenhagen in the spring. This additional incentive may explain the higher number of entries. The Copenhagen regatta was won in Group A by the Norwegian "Audacious" and in Group B by the German "Jazz". On Friday 16 September and Saturday 17 September, the Fjord Week will come to an end with two long-distance regattas: the "1711 TRANSIT-LOGISTIC Cup" and the "Flensburger Pilsener Cup" with special awards for the fastest yacht based on the Flensburg Fjord, the "Blue Ribbon" and the "Blue-Yellow Ribbon" for the fastest foreign yacht.
This year's favourites for the "Blue Riband" are the two flagships of the Hanseatic Yacht School: last year's winner "Hansa" and the "World of Tui".
The "Uca" of former employer president Klaus Murmann is highly favoured for the Blue-Yellow Ribbon, having been unable to take part in last year's Fördewoche due to a mast breakage suffered during Kieler Woche. Another special classification is the "CUP 90", a team classification that is endowed with an attractive cash prize. Here, 3 yachts compete as a city team.
After the regattas, the small boat hall will once again be the evening meeting place for sailors and their guests. During the hall parties, which take place on 10.9., 16.9. and 17.9. as always with live music. Further information can be found at www.fsc.de.
