Summer is back at Travemünde Week. The regatta week kicked off its second half with a perfect day – and first thing in the morning, the volunteers had a good reason to celebrate: it was the birthday of Frank Schärffe, Managing Director of Travemünde Week gGmbH, and to mark the occasion, hundreds of voices joined in a birthday sing-along.
Afterwards, the organising crews and the sailors in ten classes – who are still competing for world and European championship titles – quickly took to the water. There were also two newcomers to the current competition: highly experienced and professional teams are competing in the Dragon and RS 21 classes.
Dragons:
For the Dragons, the North German Championship off Travemünde – which runs until Sunday – serves as a trial run for next year’s big event. That is when the Gold Cup for this former Olympic class will be contested. Alongside the World Championship, it is the most prestigious trophy that crews in this keelboat class can win. Teams from Hamburg, Lübeck, Kiel and Berlin took the opportunity to warm up. After the first day and two races, Hamburg holds a one-two lead with Benjamin Morgen ahead of Benjamin Hub. Tanja Jacobsohn from the host club, the LYC, and her crew are in third place.
Folkeboats:
The tide has turned for the Folkeboats. For two days, Berlin’s Andreas Blank dominated proceedings at the top of the Gold Cup standings; now the strong Danish crew are in the lead. Per Hovmark, who secured one victory over the course of the five races, has taken first place with two strong finishes, whilst Sören Kästel – the six-time Gold Cup winner and defending champion – follows hot on his heels. Walther Furthmann from Strander is now the highest-placed German crew in the standings. In third place, he is on course for a medal. He already has a third and a second place to his name in his Gold Cup career – both successes were achieved off Travemünde and Niendorf, i.e. on this very same course.
RS 21:
In the third keelboat class currently racing on the Baltic Sea courses, the international field is a colourful mix. After three races, seven nations feature in the top ten of the RS 21. Despite a penalty point – as the crew failed to collect their tracker that morning – the Polish team led by Lukas Wosinsky took the top spot, followed by the Lithuanian team led by Tadas Zizys. The best German team is the crew led by Melanie Höveler (Munich), currently in third place.
Several experienced sailors have learnt the hard way just how difficult it is to secure a place among the frontrunners in this professional class. Three-time Olympian and two-time world champion Diego Negri has joined the crew of his Italian compatriot Davide Albertini Petroni. Although the quartet secured a commanding victory in one race, with a further third and eighth place, they currently sit in fourth place overall despite being seventh in the standings. The former top 470 sailors from Berlin – Jasper Wagner, Oliver Szymanski and Dustin Baldewein – have even had to settle for eighth place aboard Aleksandr Ezhkov’s boat (Montenegro).
Vaurien:
In the dinghy classes, the field of 59 pairs from nine nations is taking shape in the Vaurien class for Friday’s grand World Championship final. And the Italians Olmo Cerri and Gioia Bertolani hold all the cards to win World Championship gold. After three wins on Thursday, they lead by a clear margin ahead of the Spanish 2025 World Championship runners-up, Pablo Cabello Vieitez and Isabel Cabello Canas. The battle for the World Championship bronze is shaping up to be a close contest between Johan Vissia and Anouk Vissia from the Netherlands and the French pair Francois-Xavier Drogou and Caroline Guilloux.
Peter Lakshmanan (Dortmund), the international class president for the Vaurien, is back on the race course for the second time following the 2018 World Championships off Travemünde and feels fully vindicated in having made the right choice in awarding the World Championships to this venue: “We were determined to return, because the organisation is professional. Camping on Grünstrand, the festival, the race course – everything’s just right. It’s the best sailing week in Germany,” said the 45-year-old, who, with bowwoman Daniela Böckmann, is the highest-placed German in 13th place.
Travemünde Week still has a few decisions to make regarding the various RS classes. This is because the classes from the British shipyard feature many different disciplines.
Aðalsteinn Jens Loftsson, from the Reykjavik area, is a rare visitor from Iceland to Travemünde Week. Photo: Katrin Heidemann
RS Aero:
The huge RS Aero fleet attracts sailors from all over the world – including from countries not usually represented at Travemünde Week. In Aðalsteinn Jens Loftsson’s home country, it is often cold and stormy. The water temperature never rises above ten degrees Celsius. The air temperature climbs to a maximum of 20 degrees at best, even in warm summers. These are conditions that do not exactly encourage sailing in small boats. Nevertheless, Loftsson, an Icelander from the Reykjavik area, is taking part and competing in the RS Aero 7 class at Travemünde Week for the first time. “The conditions in Travemünde aren’t easy. I’m not used to sailing in such strong winds and high waves,” says the 63-year-old from stormy Iceland, somewhat surprisingly, before quickly adding an explanation: “At home, we usually only sail in light winds and in sheltered areas. For one simple reason: nothing must break, because we always have to go to the trouble of ordering spare parts from abroad. That takes time.” To be able to take part in regattas across Europe more often, he has bought a second boat, which is based in France. He is also competing in Travemünde with this boat. The Icelander’s motto: “Sailing keeps you fit. If you stop sailing, you grow old.”
In the RS Aero 5 class, Jorgen Kuivonen from Estonia is still in the lead after eleven races. The Australian Rhett Cowans has taken the lead in the Aero 6 class. Twelve races have been completed in both the RS Aero 7 and RS Aero 9 classes. The Swede Aron Warnberg continues to lead by a wide margin in the RS Aero 6 class, and the same applies to Baabir’o Flower in the RS Aero 9 class.
RS 200 and RS 400:
After three races, the British duo of Ian Pickard and Lauren Callaghan are leading the RS 200 European Championship. The RS 400 European Championship is a battle amongst the British sailors. After the first day of racing, the team of John Reekie and Justin Denny have taken the lead.
RS Feva XL:
After five races, the British pair Cassius Day and Harry O’Callaghan are at the top of the field. Just one point behind are the Italians Edoardo Bastini and Samuele Bardelli, who were frustrated to have been disqualified for a false start in the penultimate race, thereby losing the lead. However, they insisted that they still had a lot of fun on the regatta course. Currently in third place are the Swiss pair Jack Laborde and Albert Wells.
