New format for the spectators, start of the yachts directly in front of an audience in the Trave, exciting races at the international championships on the Bay of Lübeck: The Travemünde Week delivers many exciting moments for athletes and spectators in quick succession. At the official championships, no titles were awarded on TW Thursday, but with the selection of the Lübeck sailing champions, a new compact sailing event for the Travemünde Week, there was an award ceremony, while the World and European Championships as well as the ranking regattas completed two to four races in the different classes.
The Tokyo Olympic experience is at the forefront of the Formula 18 World Championship. In 2021, the Swede Emil Järudd sailed to 14th place on Cecilia Jonsson’s foresheet, before Travemünde he has the tiller in his own hand and steers the fast catamaran with Rasmus Rosengren at the foresheet confidently over the course.
In the final round, the Swedes scored exclusively top ten results and are ahead of Patrick Demesmaker/Gilles Tas (Belgium) and Gavin Colby/Kai Colman (Australia). Very well on course to fulfill their own goal of a top ten finish at this World Championships, the Zarnekau brothers Helge and Christian Sach are currently ninth and thus the best Germans.
With the start of the gold fleet of the Junior World Championships, it will be more difficult to achieve consistent top results. The German-Maltese Richard Schultheis also had to make this experience with the 49ers. After seven top-three results in the preliminary round, he and his partner Youenn Bertin now had to accept Serie 3, 18, 16 in the first three races of the final. “The races in the gold group are much closer, so it’s harder to get through the fleet. Also, we didn’t find the rhythm today. The wind is hard to read, every race was completely different,” said 18-year-old Schultheis, who has lived on the Mediterranean island since he was six years old, but has both passes. “This is also where I learned to sail, that’s why I’m sailing for Malta.” He had traveled to Travemünde with high goals, but without taking concrete placements into account. “But now we want to defend second place, maybe even attack forward.” At the front, that’s where the Australians Jack Ferguson/Jack Hildebrand are. The two also suffered some setbacks in the final with the series 24, 19, 4, but already have a points cushion of eleven points before the decisive day. Behind the third-placed Israelis Tal Sade/Ely Reuveny, the best German crew lurks in fourth place. The Bavarians Valentin Müller/Moritz Fiebig still have a chance of winning a medal.
Behind the Frenchwomen Manon Peyre/Clara-Sofia Stamminger de Moura, things are very close at the 49erFX. But the clearly leading team from Marseille and the Seine has everything under control so far. “We wanted to perform here. But the result is better than expected. We trained well and were able to implement the experience, although there were always a lot of clouds over the course and the wind was very tricky,” reported helmswoman Manon Peyre. “We’ve been sailing together for three years and we’ve gotten on well with each other. The key is to achieve consistent results.” The duo has their sights set on the Olympics and still sees good chances of asserting themselves in the French team for the home games in Marseille. “It’s all open!” As their biggest success so far, they cite the fourth place at the Kieler Woche four weeks ago. The victory at the Junior World Championships at the Travemünde Week would top that. The other podium places are currently occupied by the Italians Sofia Giunchiglia/Giulia Schio and the Israeli team Illy Wureit/Yuval Barnoon.
If Constance has a name, it’s Jean-Michel Lautier. The Dutchman and his team are on course for the world championship title in the J/22 as if his boat were riding on rails. The results so far: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2. Since he can currently delete the second place, he is at the top with the ideal grade.
The only team that has so far been able to snatch a victory from the title favourites is the team of Jürgen Eiermann (Rastatt), who climbed to third place – behind the Berlin team led by Wolf Jeschonnek.
In the german-Dutch duel of the Olympic dinghies, on the other hand, black-red-gold is blowing at the top. Harry Voss (Schaumburg-Lippe) has taken over the leading position at this European Cup and is a bit surprised himself: “Actually, I don’t like the weak wind. I prefer it when it blows properly, then you don’t have to think so much and can just let it go.” But this time it’s also going well in the unloved conditions. Although he is followed by two other Germans, Frank Hänsgen (Potsdam) and Wolfgang Höfener (Hüde), Voss has his sights set on a Dutchman as a big contender for European Championship gold: “Thies Bisch must always be on the bill.” In fact, Bosch is in rank, although he has to bring a serious slip into the standings.
At the ranking regatta of the keel migratory birds, Michael Hotho/Marcus Hahn (Wunstorf) continued their consistently good series and defended their lead. With the entry of the Corsairs into the TW action, the young Silja and Jonna Braun immediately showed what they are capable of and clearly put the competition in their place with placings 1, 3, 1.
When the sailors from the dinghy, skiff and cat classes were already back on land, the sailors were only on course. They went on their long-distance regatta through the night in the evening. The starting signal for the long-haul sea sailors was given today for the double-handed crews. Six boats made their way out of the Trave to the Baltic Sea. The F&F 95 Modif “Feinschliff” (Hanno Zimmermann/Dirk Meiburg) took the lead immediately after the start. The crews have 60 nautical miles ahead of them. The original route “Rund Fehmarn” was shortened due to wind forecasts. A little later, in light winds, the 16 boats of the ORC-C and the yardstick classification followed in the second start. The X-41 “Stardust” of Alf-Henryk Wulf from Kiel came off well. On the other hand, the start was unfortunate for the Luffe 43 “Smilla” (Heinrich Meiners), which registered the recall after an early start late and thus had a long way back to the starting line. Due to the weak wind, the peloton pulled far apart shortly after the start. The first yachts are expected back in the Trave at dawn. Until everyone is back, it will drag on until noon.
