Relaxed start, fast races

For the offshore sailors, the regatta kick-off was Warnemünder Woche a real pleasure - but a short one. With a half wind from the south, eleven yachts rushed from the start of the Mecklenburg Seaside Regatta towards the east. And after just 2:12,38 hours, the fastest team, the crew of the "Ember Sea" of Matthias Mier (Warnemünde), had completed the 22 nautical mile course and crossed the finish line in front of the middle pier. The Ilca classes and the 505s were also fast in their two races.

A somewhat reduced yacht fleet set off on Saturday morning towards Kühlungsborn. The 75-foot maxi "Calypso" had to give up due to technical problems. Race director Laura Kühlewind was able to send the rest off without any problems: "It was a relaxed start to the sea regattas. We started with 15 to 17 knots of wind, later it got a little stronger. But there were no problems," said Kühlewind.

This was also reported by the skipper of the "Maiko", John Victorin (Warnemünde), who finished after the "Ember Sea" and came second in the ORC rankings according to the calculated time. "The conditions were good despite some strong gusts. The wind fluctuated between 15 and 30 knots. So we were a bit cautious on the way back and only pulled the spinnaker briefly. We didn't want to risk anything on the long distance around Bornholm," reported Victorin.

The “Ember Sea” was the fastest yacht on the course at the Bäderregatta. Photo: Pepe Hartmann

While in the ORC ranking he was in second place behind the “Warnow old Stars” of Matthias Curschmann (Warnemünde) according to calculated time, in the Yardstick ranking the fastest yacht, the “Ember Sea”, was also in first place according to calculated time.

Andreas Krabbe-Christensen came off the water with a big grin. He sailed the Ilca7 with a second and third place in the individual races to first place in the overall ranking. "It was absolute fun downwind today," reported the Dane. "But it was also extremely exhausting. You had to ride out intensively and sail the others until they were tired. The wind was shifting and gusty. It was important to avoid mistakes." Krabbe-Christensen plans to continue to advance to the top of the world in the future: "We have a strong squad in Denmark and we are constantly developing. My goal is to be part of the World Cup squad for 2026." Behind Krabbe-Christensen are his compatriot Thomes Jörgensen and the Australian Michael Compton.

The Ilca6 sailors around leader Anna Munch made great speed on the waves. Photo: Pepe Hartmann

The absolute world elite of women are competing against each other in the Ilca6 these days. For many, it is the last test before the Olympic Games. Anne-Marie Rindom is happy to be able to put her form to the test again in Warnemünde. The 2021 Olympic champion and reigning world champion recently had to miss the Kiel Week. "My arm was overstrained, a kind of tennis elbow. But things are looking up. Today was exhausting, but it went quite well. And it was warm, really great sailing."

The 33-year-old had high praise for the race management: "They did a good job and had us back in the harbor before the wind got too strong." After two races with a second place and a win, Rindom is currently in third place. For the Danish Olympic competitor from Marseille, the Warnemünder Woche also a good internal comparison. Because the current leader, Anna Munch, also comes from Denmark.

A return to the regatta circuit couldn't have been more successful than for Hannah Anderssohn with a first and a third place. Photo: Pepe Hartmann

Hannah Anderssohn celebrated a fantastic return to regatta action. The woman from Rostock had been concentrating on university for the last three months. "I wasn't particularly active during this phase, I'm basically coming from the cold. But it felt good." And it looked good too. She opened the season with a win. Warnemünder Woche, followed up with a third place and is now in third place. Nevertheless, she says: "Defending my Warnemünde Week title from last year will be difficult with the strong women here. But I'm enjoying the home competition and just want to give something back to Warnemünde."

Among the young sailors in the Ilca4, there is a very mixed international field in the top positions. Six nations are in the top ten. The Czech Jiri Tomes leads ahead of the Cypriot Anatoli Zoubovski and the Czech Beáta Dokoupilova.

In the 505s, the day turned into an elimination race in the gusty wind. Several crews of the fast fives didn't even go on the water, some turned back before the first start. So only 24 duos remained in the race. The Frenchmen Philippe Boite/Marin Carnot are in the top positions, having left the local heroes Lutz Stengel/Frank Feller behind in both races. Stefan Böhm/Gerald Roos (Ville) are in third place with two third places.