Three main regattas have already been scheduled for the 2014 regatta programme, divided into Southern, Central and Northern Europe. In the south, sailing will take place from 22 to 25 May on the occasion of the International Lake Constance Week in Constance. The 22 square metre archipelago cruisers will compete in the "open archipelago cruiser class", which was newly established in 2013. A total of eight regattas are planned.
The northern centre of gravity regatta will start off Sandhamn, in the archipelago off Stockholm. From 6 to 10 August, the international Swedish 22-boat archipelago cruiser championships will be held there. The Royal Swedish Yacht Club, KSSS, in Stockholm is responsible for organising and staging these regattas.
The third main regatta is announced as the highlight of the season. From 17 to 19 September, a Eurocup for 22 sqm archipelago cruisers will be sailed for the first time on the Wannsee in Berlin. As early as December 2013, 24 archipelago cruiser owners from Switzerland, Sweden, Germany and Australia had already signed up on the list of interested parties. This first Eurocup already promises to be a success, as there is a high-calibre field of eight yachts on the list from Sweden, peppered with top sailors.
Following the Eurocup, from 20 to 21 September, the Kaiserpokal will take place, with a separate starting group for the 22-boat archipelago cruisers. The organising club for both events is the Berlin Yacht Club.
Upwind for the Outswedes
After the big anniversary regattas "100 Years Summer Olympics Stockholm" in Nynäshamn in 2012, several participants and owners of 22er archipelago cruisers from Lake Constance and Berlin decided to continue these activities outside Sweden. A working group was formed under the leadership of the Swiss Adrian Schmidlin from Rorschach on Lake Constance, the German Matthias Grothues-Spork from Berlin, who is also the regatta director of the Berlin Yacht Club, and the Swede Zora Sorman from Eriskirch, also on Lake Constance.
Class with history
The 22s are among the most active and most sailed archipelago cruisers in Sweden within the nine archipelago cruiser classes from the 15 to the 150. A total of over 400 yachts have been built since 1908. Swedish championships are held every year, and the oldest cup in Swedish sailing history is also contested.
This challenge prize was first donated in 1910 for the 30er archipelago cruisers. In 1933, this trophy was then taken over by the 22-square-metre archipelago cruisers and has been sailed every year since then. This act marked the beginning of the real upswing of the 22 square metre archipelago cruisers with new builds and regattas at a high level. The class has national championship status, the class association is a member of the Swedish Sailing Association and ensures compliance with the class regulations.
Berlin colouring
The 22 square metre archipelago cruisers on the Wannsee in Berlin had a very special history. As international regattas were no longer permitted after the First World War, the Berlin sailors sought to join the neutral Baltic Sea countries. Following an agreement with the Swedish Sailing Association at the time, regattas could once again be organised in skerry cruiser classes from 1925. From 1928 to 1934, annual special races for 22 square metre skerry cruisers were organised for the Max Gildemeister Memorial Prize on the Wannsee at the Potsdam Yacht Club. The multiple winner of this prize was Dr James Bileski on G 36 "Pusteback" from the Berlin Sailing Club (BSC).
But fate was not kind to him - he died of pneumonia in 1932. Because of his Jewish ancestry, his family had to flee Germany for the USA. The "Pusteback" remained behind on the Wannsee. The boat survived the turmoil of war and is now moored on Lake Constance. The current owner, Markus Mayer from the Yacht Club Langenargen, invited Dr Bileski's daughter, who lives in the USA, to Lake Constance in 2012. As she boarded the boat, she recounted many memories and how she spent many hours with her father on Lake Wannsee as a young girl.
A beautiful and conciliatory story, and it continues. Exactly 80 years later, after the last organisation of the Max Gildemeister Memorial Prize in 1934, a new era begins with the first Eurocup in September 2014 on the Wannsee in Berlin. Adrian Schmidlin was elected Vice President of the NSK (Nationale Schärenkreuzer), a class association recognised by the DSV, in spring 2013 and is also the chairman of the 22er Schärenkreuzer.
