At the halfway point of Travemünde Week, the focus of fans and visitors turned to the Volksbank Rotspon Cup, the match race between Lübeck’s mayor, Jan Lindenau, and State Parliament President Kristina Herbst. But alongside this exhibition race on the River Trave, racing was also taking place on the courses in the Baltic Sea – in challenging conditions.
DSV President Mona Küppers, who had been closely following the action since the opening, had high praise for the sailing event: “How was it, in a word? Wonderful!” she said, adding: “It’s an incredibly successful mix of young sailors across many boat classes – a great atmosphere. I was particularly pleased that the RS Venture Connect Inclusion World Championships were held here. Many nations were represented, and the sailing was of a high standard. Congratulations to the race committee, who had the courage to continue racing until sunset on the third day to make the championships possible.”
The inclusive sailors have now crowned their champions, but the championship programme continues in full swing until Sunday. Meanwhile, the Vaurien class demonstrated perfect timing in the planning of their World Championship. After two pleasant days of sailing with a total of four races, they were able to relax on Wednesday during their scheduled lay day, whilst out on the Baltic Sea gusts of five to six Beaufort swept across the course. They plan to return to regatta action on Thursday and Friday. The weather forecast for these days: light to moderate winds with plenty of sunshine.
For the Folkeboats, tough conditions are no reason to cancel a day’s racing – and certainly not for the Northerners. Whilst the success-hungry teams from Denmark held back on the first day of the Gold Cup and failed to feature in the top three, the second day turned the tables. The crews from the north are advancing in a broad phalanx. Despite finishing tenth, Andreas Blank (Berlin) still holds a narrow lead, but the Danebrog flies on the four boats behind him. Per Hovmark and Per Buch follow in second and third place respectively. Both are hoping for their fourth Gold Cup victory off Travemünde. Michael Guldmann occupies fourth place, and Sören Kästel is still very much in contention. The man from Hellerup near Copenhagen has already won the class’s unofficial world championship title six times – most recently last year on his home waters.
In the RS 500 class, the new European champions have been decided after ten races. Unlike many other classes at the RS Games, this one is not predominantly British. Forty-seven competitors from eight nations took part in the European Championships in Travemünde. Nevertheless, the podium in the overall standings was an all-British affair. Paul Cullen and Fresh Abendstern took the overall title ahead of Peter and James Curtis. The two friends took up RS 500 sailing when they decided to compete together once more in a fun class and were looking for an affordable boat to do so. Bronze went to Hugh and Luke Watson. The top three in the youth classification are more international: Matteo Galgano Corni and Rafaello Spadini from Italy, Thomas Leather and Samuel Leather from Great Britain, and Monika Krenkova and Kristyna Krenkova from the Czech Republic. In the women’s event, the new European champions are Daphne Somers and Melani de Bat from the Netherlands. Silver went to the Czech Republic’s Monika and Kristyna Krenkova, whilst bronze went to the Italians Anna Mosso and Camilla Parrinelli.
The RS Feva class kicked off the World Championships in a colourful and cheerful atmosphere at their opening ceremony on Tuesday evening. The competitors from 20 nations marched onto the stage at Priwall Harbour for the opening ceremony in a flag parade. 142 sailors have entered the World Championships for these fast two-person dinghies, which run until Sunday. In gusty conditions, the class completed its first race on Wednesday. As the field is divided into three groups, there are three leaders: Elin and Ants Haavel from Estonia, Kitty Bingham and Lottie Clifton from Great Britain, and Charlotte de Groot and Sven van Dartel from the Netherlands.
The RS Aero 5 and 6 classes have so far completed seven races in their European and Youth World Championships. In the RS Aero 5 class, Jorgen Kuivonen from Estonia is in the lead, whilst in the RS Aero 6 class, Sofia Naumenko from Ukraine – who won the German Open in the RS Aero 7 class at Travemünde Week two years ago – is at the top of the standings. The RS Aero 7 class has currently completed eight races, with Sweden’s Aron Warnberg leading the way, whilst the RS Aero 9 class sees Canada’s Baabii’o Flower at the top of the field.
A small selection of RS Aero 5 sailors continued out on the Trave in the late afternoon. They competed in the Volksbank Trave Race, which this time even offered a prize of 300 euros for the winner. And it was the young Briton Fergus Anderson who took the prize.
Thursday marks the start of the European Championships for further RS classes: the RS 200, RS 400, RS Vareo and RS 21. The latter are also competing in the Euro Cup, as is the RS 100 class.
