Wooden boats are not to be taken lightly. Even with varnish, planks and decades-old boatbuilding skills, every metre is sailed at the buoy. There is just a little respect in every manoeuvre, because years, work and stories have gone into the hulls. At the wooden boat regatta in the NRV was exactly what we saw. Classic kites, 12-foot dinghies and H-dinghies came to the start, 28 boats in total. Saturday brought wind, but not a comfortable one. The pressure fluctuated between 8 and 23 knots across the course. It was precisely this spread that characterised the races and challenged crews and boats.
New race organisation
It was a special edition for Alexander Prince of Schleswig-Holstein. After many years, he was in charge of the wooden boat regatta for the first time. The NRV Vice-Commodore thus took over a regatta with its own tradition and a field that knows exactly how this event should work. The fact that the change was hardly noticeable is a compliment. When the wind is there, we sail. When it didn't come on Sunday, the race was not artificially extended, but the award ceremony was held in a dignified setting.
The race organisers made the most of the windy Saturday. In the end, three races were scored for the wooden kites and four each for the 12-foot dinghies and H dinghies.
Clear results
Niklas Ganssauge, Sven Kruse and Marcus Baur left little to be desired in the wooden kite category. The team won the Julius Gahde Memorial Prize with first, first and second place and four points. Sönke Bruhns followed in second place with Christiane Bruhns and Moritz Almes with eight points, while Jan-Christoph Maiwaldt came third with Stefan Hitschfel and Nils Bauer with twelve points.
Torsten Keller came out on top in the Alster Bowl of the 12-foot dinghies. After four races and one stringer, he was in the lead with five net points. Behind him it remained close: Peer Stemmler and Dittmer Behrmann both scored six net points. Stemmler came second and Behrmann third.
Real jewels
Jan Korf and Oliver Wendt took first place in the H dinghies. Max Augustin and David Heitzig, normally at home in fast Melges 32 sailing, entered the competition with an H dinghy they bought on eBay and built themselves. The "Juwel" not only bears its name beautifully, but also sails like one: second place at the premiere. Cecilia Ruppert and Lars Hückstädt's H dinghy followed in third place.
Sunday remained the announced alternative to Saturday. The crews came back to the NRV, the race committee waited, but the Alster no longer provided a stable wind. At the award ceremony, Alexander Prinz zu Schleswig-Holstein spoke of a wonderful regatta with a very special atmosphere and this special bond of wooden boat enthusiasts.
