Classic Week: The big report from the meeting of the classics

That was close. Like a memorial, the unlit cardinal buoy rushes past the side of the boat in the darkness, just as quickly as it came into view, and shortly afterwards it has disappeared again in the choppy wake. Two massive shadows can still be made out near the buoy, the sails of competitors who are also rounding Bredgrund Süd to finally drop off after a challenging cross through the increasingly choppy sea and set course for the Danish island of Lyø.

Even the approach to Classic Week is demanding

It's Saturday morning, sometime between one and two o'clock, on board a wooden creak boat. As part of the night regatta "The Run", it is travelling around 60 nautical miles from the Flensburg Outer Fjord to Aabenraa, where the Classic Week begins. A gathering of more than 200 traditionally built yachts, open boats and dinghies, organised by the Friends of Classic Yachts for the fifth time after 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2019. The start is dark, cold and uncomfortable.

In the evening, the scene had looked completely different. Contrary to all predictions, the field bobbed in a leaden calm before the start after a sunny Friday afternoon, and almost as if by magic, a sudden breeze pushed the boats across the imaginary line, only to suddenly disappear again. For two hours, they spun around their own axis as if on a mirror, until the wind finally came with the darkness, more and more, and even from the front.

Other classic themes:

• The creation of the original Optimist-Pram for soapbox races on the water
• 55 mm pointed gate: "Neptun", the penultimate of its kind
• Neptune cruiser: classic skerry cruiser with trident

Halfway to Aabenraa

The shoal buoy is literally the turning point of this long haul. The sheets are unfurled with a sigh, the foresailor can stretch out on the narrow bunk below deck, and it is also much more relaxed at the helm without the concentration on height and speed required at the cross.

Thoughts are full of anticipation for the gathering of so many classic cars and their crews. The Classic Week programme promises a unique experience. From Aabenraa, the route will take them to Dyvig, Høruphav, Kappeln and Kiel, where the traditional rendezvous of the classics during Kiel Week will bring the festival-like event to a close.

Until then, there will be numerous regattas and a varied shore programme, from lectures on safety and weather to tourist and culinary shore excursions. And in the evenings, there will be a chance to eat and celebrate together.

Unlike Classic Week, The Run night regatta takes place annually. Since 2015, it has been organised as a rally from the four starts Fehmarn, Kiel, Schlei and Flensburg to the finish. Previously this was Svendborg, but this year the Aabenraa Sejl Club is hosting the event. And for the first time, Juelsminde will also be a starting point in Denmark.

When Lyø comes into view sometime after 3 a.m., it is already light again. The weather forecast is more accurate than the previous evening. It had predicted SE 3-4, gusts 5-6, but fortunately the rain that had also been forecast has yet to materialise.

In an open keelboat

The Knarr dashes along at hull speed. The open keelboat from Norway was named after the Knorr ship type of the Vikings, but in yachting history it is considered a synthesis of a folk boat and a kite. However, thanks to its dimensions - knorr boats are 9.28 metres long and only 2.12 metres wide - it looks more like the latter. Another six sister ships are expected at Classic Week.

To leeward, an orange and white spinnaker comes into view and closer and closer. The jib is unfurled on the creak, the class does not have a space windsail. The spinnaker belongs to the 7.5 CR yacht "Capella", which also started in Flensburg and is now being chased through the sea by skipper Björn Both and his ambitious crew with a lot of pressure, making a great impression. The anticipation is growing, and the nautical miles to the finish line are getting fewer and fewer.

By the time the spinnaker has to be recovered abeam Helnæs at the last turning mark, "Capella" has already become quite small. From the buoy, we head west-south-west for the last 18 nautical miles to our destination. Once there, the forecast rain sets in on time, accompanied by heavy squalls that set the scene for this finale as if it were the last act of a Wagner opera.

Lots of wood at Classic Week in Aabenraa

Aabenraa is buzzing with activity despite the constant rain. The regatta participants have been arriving since the early hours of the morning - ten yachts from Fehmarn, 21 from Kiel, 20 from the Schlei and eleven from Flensburg have crossed the finish line - the remaining Classic Week participants have already arrived on their own keel or by trailer or will do so in the course of this Saturday until the official opening in the evening.

The inner harbour basin in front of the local sailing club is already filled to the brim with wooden boats, but the crane is still hoisting more into the water, accompanied by the sounds of a combo playing Dixieland in the marquee.

The number plates of the trailer teams reveal that many participants have travelled from far and wide. Felix Kempf from Munich, for example. Together with his co-sailor Siggi Klingenstein, the man in his mid-fifties has driven his 5-mR yacht "Jeni" from Lake Starnberg and is looking forward to the sailing festival and the upcoming regattas. "We craned and rigged the boat in Flensburg a few days ago," says Kempf. They then travelled from there under sail.

The small boats dominate

"More than half of the registered boats are smaller than eight metres," announced Jens Burmester from the Friends' organisation team in his welcoming speech that evening, which he regarded as a great success. "We need to rejuvenate ourselves. That's why we wanted to target the next generation for the classic scene, and we achieved that." From twelve-foot dinghies to large twelve-footers, everything the classic scene has to offer was represented.

This is clearly defined in the invitation to tender. According to this, "all yachts of handcrafted construction and dinghies from classes built up to the end of the 1960s" are permitted, "provided they were made from traditional materials such as wood, steel, aluminium and similar. Replicas in classic construction are also permitted."

A sleeping ship, the "Ryvar", has been chartered especially for the dinghy sailors. The 26-metre-long herring lugger is on board for the entire Classic Week, also houses the regatta office and serves as a transport ship for everything the organisers need on site.

Classic Week is the largest gathering in Denmark

Mayor Jan Riber Jacobsen also welcomed the participants. According to Jacobsen, it is the largest meeting of its kind ever held in Denmark and as such fits in perfectly with the maritime culture of his city. The Aabenraa Sejl Club has even turned the guest appearance of the classics into a harbour festival and supported it with numerous volunteers.

The prize-giving ceremony in the evening after the obligatory meal in the marquee is more of a minor matter, as it only affects a small proportion of those present. However, the meeting of the helmsmen on Sunday morning is a different matter.

On the programme is the first joint sailing trip, a regatta in Genner Bay, around Barsø, through the Als Fjord to Dyvig and a squadron trip directly there. While the rain pours down on the marquee, the Friends thank the local sailing club for their hospitality and explain to the participants how they should set sail and parade along the promenade in the wake of the local "Najaden", a freshly restored, gaff-rigged skerry cruiser from 1920 - a wish of the town.

Of course it goes wrong. It is exciting enough to sail out of the harbour undamaged with 200 gems at the same time in front of numerous onlookers. Before entering the harbour, the boats immediately start preparing for the start; for many, the races are the main thing here, and classic sailors are no exception.

The first race of the Classic Week in the Dyvig

There will be six groups, with 13 scoring groups. The big ones come first. Starting group one includes ocean-going yachts such as "Germania VI" from the Krupp Foundation and "Peter von Seestermühe", the three twelve-oared yachts "Anitra", "Anita" and "Sphinx" as well as several large cruiser yachts. The second group includes KR yachts, skerry cruisers and similar boats, while the third group includes smaller sea cruisers and open boats such as the Knarr. The fourth starting group brings together pointed creels and dinghy cruisers, while the fifth group is made up of around 30 folk boats. The sixth starting group belongs to the small classics. From Hansa dinghies to pirates and racing and travelling dinghies to the small twelve-foot dinghies.

Before the first start, everyone scurries around each other. A unique sight, especially as the rain has stopped and the sun has come out from behind the clouds. For owners and crews, however, the hustle and bustle is first and foremost a test of nerves. Unlike the numerous observers on land, they don't so much enjoy the sight as they make sure to keep out of the way and keep an eye on the launch.

Little by little, it's time to take to the water. A marvellous course along the picturesque coastal landscape of Sønderjylland awaits the fleet. The rain clouds have cleared, the sun is shining and the wind is blowing moderately from the south. On the way to Genner Bay, many are tempted by regatta fever to take a short cut and go closer under land than the chart suggests. The imaginary turning mark north of Barsø is also unusual for a race, but protests are not common on Classic Week anyway.

A tactically demanding cross ends the day. It is important to calculate the different current and sea conditions and make good decisions about the individual strokes before crossing the finish line in the Dyvig, which is close to shore, where it gets tight for the big yachts and thus remains exciting until the end.

From Dyvig to Hørup

The route to Hørup two days later will be a similarly exciting race. As little wind is expected from a westerly direction, the race organisers have cancelled the 50 nautical mile course for the large yachts east of Als. Instead, everyone will sail through the Als Sound, with a detour to just before Augustenborg planned for the first three starting groups.

Once there, the doldrums cruise back to Als Sound becomes a test of nerves with a strong current running against it. In the sound, the race is a pure game of chance. Every now and then a breeze stirs over a group of a few boats and, as if secretly driven by electric motors, they pass the others downwind, then it's the other way round.

After crossing the finish line shortly before the time limit and passing the bridge at Sønderborg, Hørup is soon reached. The puzzle announced in the morning at the helmsmen's briefing in Dyvig begins. While harbour operator Bengt Larson was able to make his entire jetty available there, the classics are guests here in the ongoing operation of the club harbour.

The classics are two overnight stays on site. In Dyvig, the second day of the stay was dedicated to various lectures on safety and meteorology. Those who didn't want to listen to these could take part in hikes and guided tours of the region's sights.

In Hørup on Wednesday, a panel of experts will discuss topics relating to wooden boat building. A one-day race is also planned, which will take the large yachts to the Flensburg Inner Fjord, the smaller ones to Langballigau and the youngest ones on up-and-down courses.

Day race off Hørup

Once again, everyone gathers at the start, where the groups are sent onto their courses at ten-minute intervals. The large yachts in the first group are called back due to several early starts and have to start a second time. This also delays all subsequent starts.

But at some point, everyone is on course and even the very little ones cheerfully fight their way through the sunlit, choppy waves.

In the harbour, many a crew is busy simply relaxing today. On board the "Ariel" from Wedel, for example, Carsten Maerz and his skipper Hans Roland Heller are sitting in the narrow cockpit chatting with their neighbour. Nobody can blame Heller for taking it easy today. At 92 years old, he is the oldest participant among the owners, even if those who observe him and don't know him may not believe it.

The people of Classic Week and their stories

The founding member of the Freundeskreis Klassische Yachten acquired the 6-KR yacht, which was the first to be built in Germany in 1950 by Abeking and Rasmussen, back in 1968 - 55 years ago. At that time, the 9.62 metre long and only 2.26 metre wide sea cruiser caused quite a stir when Heller cruised along the Elbe in what was a veritable cruiser by the standards of the time.

He and his wife sailed more than 50,000 nautical miles together until she set off on her last voyage without him around ten years ago. "But she made me promise not to sell the ship," says Heller, who complains with a mischievous smile that the sailors he has hired since then have mostly retired at the young age of 80.

His friend and fellow sailor Maerz, on the other hand, is only in his mid-fifties and makes sure that "Arielle" and her skipper stay afloat in spring and during the season. He particularly likes the relaxed atmosphere of Classic Week. Heller can judge that, he has been on all of them. "You can take part in everything, but you don't have to," says the self-confessed touring sailor, who has only collected a few regatta silverware, but "heaps of sailing prizes" for trips as far as Finland in his display case at home.

A few boats away, Felix Kempf and Siggi Klingenstein from Munich laid their cushions on the jetty to dry. Towards the end of the day, the 5mR yacht "Jeni", like all the other participants, was battered by a strong freshening wind. Nevertheless, the two of them are beaming, and when asked what they have enjoyed most so far, the experiences come flooding back. For Kempf, it is above all the encounters with people he has met again here or knew from the scene but was never able to meet in person due to the distance.

Michael Thönnessen and fellow sailor Stefan Ernst Schneider also enjoy the atmosphere of the non-profit event, which is organised and run on a voluntary basis. The fact that not everything is perfect and that minor mishaps do occur is a nice touch. The two of them sit in the cockpit of Thönnessen's "Agena" in the sun and talk about how much they enjoy socialising with other classic boat fans here.

Both grew up with boats and both have turned their passion into a profession. Thönnessen, for example, founded the ship chandler Toplicht in Hamburg in 1981, which has been run by his daughter Gesa, who also supports Classic Week, for the past two years. As co-founder of the Oevelgönne museum harbour, Thönnessen has long been at home in the traditional sailing scene. He acquired his 5.5 KR yacht, built by De Dood in 1967, 15 years ago as an easy-to-handle family ship and from then on also became involved in the classic sailing scene.

The wind has picked up considerably. Just in time for the obligatory evening programme with buffet, prize-giving ceremony and live music, the large yachts have also arrived back in little Høruphav. The number one topic of conversation is the predicted lull on Thursday, as they are due to sail to Kappeln.

From Hørup to Kappeln

The first sailors set off as soon as it gets light, regatta or not. The starting order is reversed today. The little ones are allowed onto the course first so that they can be taken in tow by the big ones when they come up under motor after the race has been cancelled.

By midday, everyone is floating in the oil. The sun is blazing down and some people jump overboard to cool off. On channel 15, one crew after another cancels in order to be in Kappeln in time for the evening programme. Those who don't cancel - and there aren't many - receive a visit from the support boat of sponsor Pantaenius once the time limit has expired. "You can go home, the finish line has been dismantled!" comes the call, but as it has started to blow like a mockery, the Knarr continues under sail to the mouth of the Schleim.

Day races on the Schlei

Things look better the next day. While the larger yachts are sailing a course off Schleimünde, the smaller yachts are travelling on the Schlei between Arnis and Lindaunis, and the wind direction turns the course into a real up-and-down race. The cross is not easy, narrow sections in the fairway, shallows at the edge and a large field at the start make some participants forget that they have actually only travelled here for fun.

The local sailing club in Kappeln is also on board as host. Volunteers are on hand and the club harbour is available to the classic sailors. Their crews have to contend with the strong currents when mooring. "Take your time, line work always comes before engine power," reads the rules for harmonious coexistence on the event's website.

Everything the participants need can be found there. In addition to the programme, sailing instructions and course maps, there is also more detailed information about ratings, starting groups and classification groups. Participants were able to order polo shirts here long before the event, and there was also a section with daily news well in advance.

There is also a group in the messenger Signal that anyone can join. From closed toilet blocks and carpooling opportunities to weather reports and changes to the programme schedule, communication is possible in real time and is used extensively.

27 months preparation

It took 27 months to prepare all of this, says Jens Burmester from Freundeskreis Klassische Yachten. His core team consisted of four colleagues who organised this major event for - at peak times - 540 people on a voluntary basis in their free time.

"What happened on the side was particularly important to me," says Burmester when asked to summarise. And by that he means that, in addition to sailing, high-calibre events such as the seminars in Dyvig and Høruphav, which focused on meteorology, safety and wood as a boat-building material, were offered.

From Kappeln to Kiel

But every event comes to an end at some point. Before we can set off for Kiel on Saturday in fresh to strong winds, the entire fleet has to pass the bridge. At the helmsmen's briefing, they are urged to be prudent and hurry. And to tow the motorless boats.

It is the last tow for them on this Classic Week. In a brilliant finale, the entire squadron rushes to Kiel and celebrates together one last time. At a historic location. The boats are moored together in the old Olympic harbour, some of them will have already been guests here as new builds at Kiel Week.

Perhaps the crews were then at the Kiel Yacht Club just as they are today, as the end of the Classic Festival is duly celebrated and prizes are awarded for the last time.