In the 125th year of its existence, Lübecker Yacht-Club and its co-organisers NRV Hamburg and Zürcher YC are offering a championship programme at the 134th Travemünde Week (21 to 30 July) that can hardly be topped in terms of high class. Four World Championship titles will be awarded during the nine regatta days, plus one European Championship title and five German titles. In addition, the Sailing Champions League will again hold its finals in the Bay of Lübeck, just like last year, and the 36 teams of the Erste und Zweite Segelbundesliga will collect important points for the season ranking. This means that two thirds of the total of 19 decisions for the Travemünder Woche have championship character. Ranking regattas on the dinghy courses as well as the show races in the Trave round off the sailing programme.
the quality of the participants is very high
Dirk Bleiker, German F18-class boss
This offer made it expected, and indeed the international rush to this Travemünde Week from all over the world is huge. By the end of June, 30 nations were on the entry lists. The strongest contingent will be the catamaran sailors for the Formula 18 World Championship. More than 100 duos from 18 nations had already registered in June, and a few more starters are expected. “I had hoped for considerably more entries, but I think we will have around 120 starters,” says German class chairman Dirk Bleiker, who himself sails for the LYC and has brought the World Championships to Travemünde. “After Corona, not everyone is back in regatta mode yet. We are missing some sailors from southern Germany and Italy. But the quality of the participants is very high. The favourites include teams from the USA, Argentina, Greece and France. It will be difficult for the Germans to intervene in the decision for the medal places,” says Bleiker. If the conditions are right, however, the brothers Helge and Christian Sach from Zarnekau and the father-son team Sven and Jesse Lindstädt (Hamburg) could sail into the top ten. Helge Sach, 21-time winner of Travemünde Week with his brother Christian and thus record holder, confirms this: “A place in the top ten at this world championship would be great!
Although with somewhat lower entry numbers, the skiff sailors are even more international in their Junior World Championships in the Olympic 49er (60 entries) and 49erFX (47 entries). A total of 23 nations are represented in the two fast-paced classes. The starters want to get in shape for future Olympic Games. From Lübeck’s point of view, Kjell Haschen with crew Iven Fromm and Jesper Bahr with Fynn Kaufhold in the 49er and Carolina Horlbeck as crew from Charlotte Henkel in the 49erFX want to use the home advantage.
High hopes for German 49er-sailors
The J/22 World Championship (26 entries) is smaller, but there is no lack of exotic starters here either. While the majority of the field comes from Germany and the Netherlands, Mike Farrington from the Cayman Islands enriches the field. He is making the journey from the Caribbean to Travemünde with great ambitions and is regarded as one of the big opponents of 2019 World Champion Jean-Michel Lautier from the Netherlands in the fight for the title. The J/22s always like to come to Travemünde with championships. The last World Championship in Lübeck Bay was held in 2015. Lautier from the Netherlands won the silver medal then and will now do everything he can to top that result off Travemünde.
The European Championships of the Olympiajolle are likely to be a German-Dutch duel. These two nations dominate the events in the boat class that was formerly an Olympic class in 1936. 70 sailors want to be there when a championship is finally held on a coastal course. Otherwise, the class is mainly sailed on lakes. “There are some in the class who don’t know the Baltic Sea wave, but some are also experienced at the Travemünder Woche. It was a big wish from the ranks of our members to sail the European Championship on the Baltic Sea for once. That’s why we decided to just do it,” says the second chairman of the class, Thomas Leitl.
