64 boats sailed last weekend for the silver pots in the classes and for the tickets to the Baltic Offshore Nations Cup (BONC). There were rampages and surprise winners.
On Saturday evening you could see happy faces all round on the jetties and in front of the taps of the Flensborg Yacht Club and the Flensburg Sailing Association in Fahrensodde.
Mast breakage and rammingHowever, not all sailors will remember the races with unreserved joy. Peter Süselbeck's promising BONC aspirant "Westwind" in the IMS 2A class was rammed head-on by the Flensburg yacht "Me Bri" on the starting cross on Friday. "We actually wanted to pass behind the stern of the Westwind. But there was too much pressure in the sail in the strong wind and we couldn't release the pressure in time because of a knot in the mainsheet," explains Meinhard Schmidt, the helmsman on the "Me Bri". "So we shot at full speed into the side of the westerly wind". The result: a 40-centimetre hole in the hull of the victim and a shaved sea rail. The boat was no longer ready to sail and received compensation from the Spring Week jury for not being able to take part in the last two races. Luckily for the victim, the compensation took into account the good results of the first race and led to an overall victory in the class. Unlucky, however, that the boat was due to be shipped to Capri on Saturday to sail in the IMS World Championship. Now the repair of the boat has to be organised on the way.
Another ramming took place before the start on Friday, when the "Hamburg XII" from NRV ran into the side of the smaller Rommel 33 "Innovazione".
In addition, the "Lina F" from the Flensburg Sailing Club got its backstay caught in the bowsprit of a traditional sailing boat travelling to the Rum Regatta and lost its mast.
Of course, all accidents are mainly due to bad luck. "However, we are observing increasing aggression on the courses and need to think about ways in which the jury and race organisers can ensure greater sportsmanship and fairness in future," said jury assessor Erich Meerbach at the press conference following the event.
New faces on the race committee boatsRace director Hans-Georg Glunde started the spring week for the first time with a smaller crew. The narrowness of the inner fjord and the uncertain weather conditions caused him some problems at the beginning. The first course, which was not optimally laid out, set a sharp tone in the management team. The buoys had to be moved quickly in line with the wind shifts. But after the problems in the first race, the sailors were able to enjoy clean up-and-down courses. "We are delighted that the weather cooperated so well and made it possible to lay out such high-quality sporting courses, which could also be followed very well by the spectators on land," explained Jochen-Patrick Kunze, the new press officer responsible for organising the Spring Weeks. "This allowed us to emphasise the sporting approach and the high standard to which we are committed." For Kunze, the fact that two standardised classes competed in Flensburg and that the high sporting standard was also achieved in the smaller boats was particularly pleasing. "If we want to be better perceived with our sporting standards, then we need to consider whether we can do more for the standard classes and our Danish neighbours in particular," continued Kunze.
Going for BONCThe races of the spring weeks were also the first elimination regattas for the BONC qualification. The Baltic Offshore Nations Cup will be held off Kiel in August after another qualifying regatta, the long-distance race at Kiel Week. Thomas Jungblut (tactics) and Dietrich Tauber (helmsman) have the best prospects of a ticket to the BONC in the IMS I class. With a new design from the Finnish shipyard "Swan", they were outstanding overall winners and relegated the successful Danish sailor Dan Pedersen, who is used to winning, to second place with the rival model from X-Yachts in Hadersleben, the IMX 45 "Alice". The boat of Volker Kriegel from Kiel, sailing in the eye-catching colourful crew clothing of event sponsor Jeantex, was unable to get past the "Babs" from Flensburg Yachtservice, steered by Jungblut, despite all attempts: Compensatory justice for Jungblut's poor performance last year at the German Championship in Flensburg. The IMS sailors were astonished by the good performance of Horst Mann from Kiel, who sailed his five-year-old First 40.7 to fourth place in the overall standings. But perhaps this is just the result of five years of familiarisation with the boat and shows that the sailors of the brand new designs are not yet getting the most out of their boats.
In addition to the damaged "Westwind", former champion Werner Jensen from Kiel with his "Speedy Gonzales" and local hero Dirk Manno with his chartered First 36.7 "Pontus" had the best chance of taking part in the BONC in the IMS II class. The "Dantronik X press", an X 33 Sport, the smallest boat in the IMS II class, had to show its assertiveness. "We can keep up well with the larger IMS II boats in terms of speed, but we have to sail clear at the start to avoid being covered by the larger boats," says helmsman Torsten Bastiansen, explaining his boat's handicap. "Nevertheless, we are impressed by the speed potential that the modifications to the conventional X 332 hull, the longer keel with a different profile and the modified rig, have brought out." However, the Bastiansen brothers are not worried about their BONC participation. "Even if we don't make it onto a German team, our German/Danish crew gives us excellent prospects of a place on the Danish team that is currently being set up," says Torsten Bastiansen, who belongs to the Danish minority in Flensburg.
In the IMS III class, the Flensburg sailors John Friedrichsen ("Chinook", 1st place) and Dieter Naujeck ("Kuddeldaddeldu", 2nd place) showed where it's at. They took first place in a small class ahead of Phillip Pudenz, who started with a freshly delivered Jeanneau 32 i.
The standardised class X 99 came to Flensburg with somewhat less participation. Itzehoe sailor Soyka and his crew from Kiel set the standard here. Their start of training in January on the Strander Bucht paid off. Former world champion in this class Jonny Jensen was obviously also drawn to the X 99, and Jes Madsen from Sonderburg took him to the helm of his new BB10m "Cilie". Despite his lower speed potential, Jensen was a consistent contender in the X-99 field and had little trouble keeping the other BB10ms at bay. The Danish top sailor, who has since switched to the Star boat, had actually only spontaneously jumped in for Madsen, but was delighted with the sailing characteristics of the boat. The fact that he outclassed last year's winner Kunze was of little concern to him: "I'm much more pleased that we have brought our own class to the start here and that everyone who came was completely thrilled and will be back."
The organisers also recorded growth in the Dansk Handicap classification group, which was predominantly made up of small boats. Here, the X-79 "Rigtige Venner" of Helmuth Gardthausen from Neumünster and "Esperanza" of Dirk Eggers from Flensburg won the race. The Dynamic 2000 "Dynamit", which has become an integral part of the Flensburg harbour scene and is also known as "the forklift" because of the sponsor's logo in the sail, and the ancient H-boat "Tod oder Leutnant", which, with far less speed potential, probably spent the longest of all the participants on the choppy Flensburg Fjord.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
