Wooden boats are not just objects to be cherished. Even with their varnish, planks and decades of boatbuilding craftsmanship, every metre is fiercely contested as the boats round the mark. Yet a touch of respect is evident in every manoeuvre, for these hulls embody years of labour and stories. At the wooden boat regatta in NRV That was exactly what could be seen. Classic Dragons, 12-foot dinghies and H-jolles lined up at the start – 28 boats in total. Saturday brought wind, but not a gentle one. Wind speeds fluctuated between 8 and 23 knots across the course. It was precisely this wide range that characterised the races and put crews and boats to the test.
New Race Committee
For Alexander Prinz zu Schleswig-Holstein, it was a special edition. For the first time in many years, he was in charge of organising the wooden boat regatta. The NRV Vice-Commodore thus took charge of a regatta with its own tradition and a field of competitors who know exactly how this event should be run. The fact that the change went almost unnoticed is a compliment in itself. When the wind is there, sailing takes place. When it failed to materialise on Sunday, the event was not artificially extended; instead, the prize-giving ceremony was held in a fitting setting.
The race committee made the most of the windy Saturday. In the end, three races were counted in the Wooden Dragon class, and four each in the 12-foot dinghy and H-yol classes.
Clear results
In the wooden kite category, Niklas Ganssauge, alongside Sven Kruse and Marcus Baur, left little to be desired. The team won the Julius Gahde Memorial Prize with four points, having finished first, first and second. Sönke Bruhns, alongside Christiane Bruhns and Moritz Almes, finished second with eight points, whilst Jan-Christoph Maiwaldt, alongside Stefan Hitschfel and Nils Bauer, came third with twelve points.
Torsten Keller came out on top in the Alster regatta for 12-foot dinghies. After four races and one discard, he topped the standings with five net points. It was a close contest behind him: Peer Stemmler and Dittmer Behrmann both finished on six net points. Stemmler came second, Behrmann third.
Real gems
In the H-Jollen class, Jan Korf and Oliver Wendt took first place. Max Augustin and David Heitzig, who are usually at home racing the fast Melges 32s, made their debut in an H-Jolle they had bought on eBay and refurbished themselves. The ‘Juwel’ not only lives up to its name in terms of its appearance, but also in its sailing performance: second place on its debut. The H-Jolle skippered by Cecilia Ruppert and Lars Hückstädt followed in third place.
Sunday turned out to be the complete opposite of Saturday, just as forecast. The crews returned to the NRV once more, and the race committee waited, but the Alster no longer provided a steady breeze. At the prize-giving ceremony, Alexander Prinz of Schleswig-Holstein spoke of a wonderful regatta with a very special atmosphere and this unique bond amongst wooden boat enthusiasts.
More classics in YACHT classic
Are you interested in the world of classic yachts, traditional boatbuilding and the history of sailing? If so, read more about it in our special edition, YACHT classic.
