For the first time, the RS Games were held outside the UK. Over the nine days of racing at the 137th Travemünde Week, twelve RS classes comprising 619 boats took to the regatta courses. 945 sailors from 29 nations across three continents competed for European and World Championship titles.
“The RS Games as part of Travemünde Week were fantastic. Sailors from all over the world took part – from Australia, Canada and many other nations. I didn’t meet a single person who, at the end, said they would rather have been anywhere else. The atmosphere was unique,” said Michiel Geering, Commercial Director of RS Sailing, praising the event. The only drawback was that the distance between the Grünstrand and Priwall-Strand venues was perhaps a little too long. “But the festival atmosphere in Travemünde was so extraordinary that I can hardly imagine us not coming back – in whatever form,” said Geerling.
The RS 21 class, which held its Euro Cup in Travemünde, was particularly enthusiastic. “The regattas here were fantastic. Being able to showcase our boat classes to such a large audience is something you don’t really see anywhere else in the world,” said members of the RS 21 teams. In general, the RS organisers noted that the event in Germany attracted many participants who would not otherwise have travelled to the RS Games in the UK. “We reached people for whom the journey would otherwise have been too far: many came from Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. There were also plenty of Scandinavians here,” said Geerling.
“The feedback from the RS classes was brilliant. Everyone was extremely satisfied. It’s a great community, and the enthusiasm seems to have spread in all directions,” said Jens Kath, sporting director of Travemünde Week, delightedly.
RS Feva:
The race for the world title in the RS Feva XL class was fiercely competitive. “You must never stop concentrating; you have to keep at it and push the boat,” said the new world champions in the RS Feva XL class, Cassius Day and Harry O’Callaghan of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club on the Isle of Wight. That pushing paid off: the British pair won by a large margin. Nevertheless, they found the conditions at the World Championships challenging. “The wind was great, but quite shifty at times, and the waves were unusually short for us. Back home, we’re used to tides and long, rolling swells,” reported the two British sailors, who will soon be competing in the 29er Nationals back home – the class in which they mainly sail.
RS 200 / RS 400:
Jan Pickard and Laurie Callaghan secured the European Championship title in the RS 200 by a wide margin. The race for the top spot was closer in the RS 400, where the British pair John Reekie and Justin Denny celebrated their European Championship gold. “The conditions were challenging with plenty of swell, but it was great fun. We also really enjoyed Travemünde and the festival. It was another fantastic family event,” said Reekie and Denny, whose children competed in the RS Tera and RS Feva classes.
RS 21:
On the final day of the RS21 Euro Cup, the top of the field was shaken up once again. The favourites, the Italian team led by Davide Albertini Petroni – who have two-time Star-class world champion Diego Negri as their tactician – managed to climb to first place after a steadily improving run of form, knocking the Polish team skippered by Lukas Wosinsky off the top spot. Munich’s Melanie Höveler slipped off the podium and had to make way for Aleksandr Ezhkov. The Montenegrin, however, has a German trio in the bow. Jasper Wagner, Oliver Szymanski and Dustin Baldewein – all former top 470 sailors – are pulling the strings.
