After a day focused on the show race for the Volksbank Rotspon Cup and a few races on the Baltic Sea, Travemünde Week is back in full swing. Ten classes were on the water on Thursday across five courses. The fleets ranged from young sailors in the Open Skiff class to World Championship and Olympic veterans in the Formula 18 class.
Competitors from around the world participate in the 470 class at the Travemünde Week off the Passat in the Volksbank Trave Race. Photo: Christian Beeck/TW
The Varianta class took an unplanned break on Wednesday while determining its national title winners. The conditions the previous day were too rough for most of the fleet to leave the harbor. They preferred a significantly weaker breeze. Thus, the class returned to the start line on Thursday with a full complement of twelve boats. There, Frank Schönfeldt and Gerd Becker of Hamburg showed how a Varianta can be moved quickly around the course. After seven races, they are clearly leading the German rankings with six wins and one second-place finish.
The Kielzugvögel joined them on the course. Their leaders, Axel Fischer and Michael Schiermann, were unable to repeat their previous day’s performance. Nevertheless, they maintain a comfortable lead over Manfred Brändle and Stefanie Gouverneur of Duisburg, who scored two wins today.
Manfred Brändle/Stefanie Gouverneur are closing in on the leaders with two wins on Thursday. Photo: Christian Beeck/TW
The Dyas have just joined Bahn Golf. After the North German Championship at the beginning of the week, the focus is now on the German Championship. And there are some hot contenders for the title. Arndt Fingerhut/Andreas Malcher, the newly crowned North German champions from Edersee, are currently in fifth place. After three races, Jens Olbrysch/Norbert Schmidt (Munich) are in the lead ahead of Stefan Kreiss/Sonja Diezler. Olbrysch has been among the top German sailors in various classes since winning the German Optimist Championship in 1981 and is now aiming for another title. With Norbert Schmidt as his bowman, he forms a well-coordinated duo that already has four Dyas championship titles under its belt (2017, 2018, 2020, 2024).
The young sailors in the Open Skiff class started their national championship on a course close to land, just off Priwall beach. As board member Marcus Cremer reported, the class is undergoing a period of change and needs to rebuild its fleet. Therefore, although the number of 19 boats registered is not satisfactory, Cremer said that more is probably not possible at the moment.
In light, shifting winds, the Open Skiffs completed four races, all of which had only one winner. Mila Weniger from the Bleiloch Dam in Thuringia is currently the benchmark in the youth class.
The Open Skiff sailors had an enthusiastic start to their German Nationals. Photo: Christian Beeck/TW
Twins Sascha and Rene Treichel currently hold this status in the Topcat K1 class. With two days left in the European Championships and World Cup, which are being held simultaneously, the Wolfsburg duo has yet to record a single discard and appears to be on track for a certain victory. Mathias Equiluz and Susanne Wallner of Austria lead the chasing pack, ahead of Sebastian Pohl and Marco Schleich of Chiemsee.
The Treichels’ counterparts in the K2 Topcats are Robert Zank and Tim Stiegler from Ammersee. They are probably unbeatable in the international championship title race. Paul Säger remains the top solo sailor in the Topcats. However, the lead of the Topcat shipyard employee over Christian Enzmann (Walchensee) in K3 has shrunk to just three points.
The top spot in the Olympic dinghies goes to the Netherlands. Thies Bosch is in first place with two wins after two races, ahead of Ingo Hüter from Lübecker SV and his club colleague, Arne Assmann.
Arne Assmann (GER 42) and Ingo Hüter (GER 1227) are Dutchman Thies Bosch’s closest rivals in the Olympic dinghies. Photo: Christian Beeck/TW
The top 470s also feature a colorful mix of nations. Five nations are represented in the top five places. Frederik Huck and Gabriele Konrad of Switzerland lead, followed by Nana and Christoph Busch of Lake Edersee and Helena Schiffke and Paul Hoppe of Austria.
The French pair Bernard Boime and Gilles Espinasse are in fifth place in the official standings, but they pulled off a major coup in the evening show race. After a false start, they chased the field and arrived last at the first mark. Then, they chose a wide leeward arc and pulled ahead of the fleet, finally claiming the €300 winner’s check at the Volksbank Trave Race. “We had already scouted the course beforehand, and when we found ourselves in last place, we knew we had to do something different,” they explained, describing their smart move.
Bernhard Rogge, a board member of Volksbank Lübeck, presented the winner’s check for the Volksbank Trave Race to French sailors Bernard Boime and Gilles Espinasse. Photo: Christian Beeck/TW
Record winners Helge and Christian Sach had a dream start in the Formula 18 class at Travemünde Week. The newly crowned masters of the world wanted to relinquish their role as favorites. However, after winning all four races on the first day, they will likely have to accept it again, especially since the conditions are expected to remain the same.
“The wind will decide whether we play any role at all. We only have a chance in light winds,” said Christian Sach. Following the two brothers from Zarnekau are the Hamburg father-son team of Jesse and Sven Lindstädt, as well as the Scharbeutz duo of Daniel Paysen and Nico Heinrich. Paul Kohlhoff, the 2021 Olympic bronze medalist in the Nacra 17 class, struggled with his boat during his last-minute, spontaneous appearance in the F18 class. With his bowman, Tom Heinrich, Kohlhoff only finished two races and is currently in twelfth place in the interim standings.
Record winner against Olympic bronze medalist
The connection between Formula 18 and Travemünde Week has always been strong. Germany’s strongest F18 fleet is based at Mövenstein in Lübeck, and LYC club member Dirk Bleiker is chairman of the German class association. The 2006 F18 world champions, brothers Helge and Christian Sach, are also from the LYC. It’s no wonder, then, that these fast catamarans are an integral part of Travemünde Week. In 2023, the F18 World Championship will be held as part of TW, with nearly 100 teams competing.
The F18 catamarans are closely tied to the Lübeck Yacht Club and Travemünde Week. Photo: Christian Beeck/TW
Although this year’s ranking regatta has a smaller field than two years ago, there is no shortage of prominent names. The Sach brothers are always among the favorites. They have won Travemünde Week 22 times in various classes, most recently last year in the Formula 18 class. This makes them the undisputed record winners of the sailing week.
It will be interesting to see how they fare against a newly formed duo this year. Paul Kohlhoff, a three-time Olympic participant in the Nacra 17 from Kiel, is making a brief appearance in the Formula 18. In 2021, Kohlhoff and his crewmate, Alica Stuhlemmer, won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. Last year, the team finished eighth in Paris. The 30-year-old then took a break from sailing. Now, he’s eager to return. When former Lübeck resident Tom Heinrich suggested competing in the TW in an F18, Kohlhoff immediately agreed.
“How cool!” was Helge Sach’s reaction to the announcement by the Kohlhoff/Heinrich team. “We’re really excited. This is great publicity for Formula 18. It can only help us if Paul finds the class attractive. With Tom Heinrich as bowman, it’s an amazing team — it couldn’t be better.” However, Helge Sach is skeptical about his own chances of beating the Olympic sailor, saying, “They’re a perfect match and have the ideal weight. It’ll be tough for us, especially when the wind picks up. We have a better chance in light winds.”
Helge and Christian Sach are in the lead in the F18 class after day one and are hoping that the wind remains fairly light. Photo: Christian Beeck/TW
Paul Kohlhoff is also cautious when it comes to predicting his chances: “This is purely a fun project on Tom’s initiative. I just love catamaran racing and feel very comfortable on these boats. Tom and I are also very well suited in terms of body structure,” says Kohlhoff. Although they have not set themselves a specific goal, “there are a few experienced F18 teams that we would like to compete against.” However, the two have a manageable training schedule. They only practiced together once on an F18 before Travemünde Week and will be competing in Travemünde Week with a catamaran borrowed from Dirk Bleiker.
Nevertheless, the two F18 newcomers are looking forward to the four days at Mövenstein: “Travemünde Week is a great event. I have very fond memories of it,” says Kohlhoff, who sailed in the 29er World Championships at TW in 2012. And the name Kohlhoff has been very well known in Travemünde in recent years. In 2023, his sister Emma became U21 world champion in the 49erFX in Lübeck Bay, and last year his brothers Max and Johann sailed to third place in the German Starboat Championship.
Tom Heinrich can also look back on great successes off Travemünde. In 2013, he achieved a major coup at the Hobie Dragoon World Championships: at just 14 years of age, he won World Championship gold. He then went on to sail 29ers and later competed in high-class Olympic classes, briefly as a competitor against Paul Kohlhoff in the Nacra 17. Last year, Tom Heinrich attempted to qualify for the Olympic Games in the 49er class, but narrowly missed out.
Tom Heinrich has put his Olympic ambitions on hold, but he remains passionate about sailing. He has close ties to the German SailGP team, which Paul Kohlhoff has just joined as a consultant. When his time and business studies allow, Heinrich analyzes data for the German professional team. He also sails everything from small switch foiling skiffs to large yachts. He has competed in regattas in southern England with the crew of the “Rafale,” an Elliott 52, and shortly afterwards tried out the fast 69F foiling dinghy on Lake Garda. He is now looking forward to the opportunity to compete alongside Paul Kohlhoff in his home waters against the legends of the Travemünde Week.
