H-Boat World Championship: title collector Høj Jensen victorious
The big decision in the H-Boat World Championships didn't happen today because there was too much wind forecast to sail. So the interim result from the previous day became the final result of the H-Boat World Championship.
The H-Boat World Championship off Warnemünde ended today without any further races. Claus Høj Jensen secured the gold medal. After World Cup victories in 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021, it is the Dane's ninth World Cup title as helmsman. He started the event as the big favorite and did not relinquish the lead on any of the three days of sailing. However, he had a very close duel with his compatriot Anders Bertelsen. The two Danes sailed away from the rest of the field of 47 H-boats and were in a class of their own. “Of course I'm happy that I didn't sail anymore today because that means I've secured the world championship title. I will sail against Anders (Bertelsen) again at the Danish Championships in August at the latest,” said twelve-time Danish champion Høj Jensen. He was also happy not to go out again today because “the conditions weren’t nice today. The focus would have been on survival rather than sailing. “It was therefore the right decision by the race committee not to start today,” said Høj Jensen.
After the first day of the World Championships with two races, Høj Jensen and Bertelsen were tied for first and second place. After three races on the second day, Høj Jensen had sailed out to a razor-thin lead of two points over Bertelsen.
With lots of waves and fresh wind, Anders Bertelsen from Aarhus coped better with the difficult conditions on the third day and won two of the three races, which again led to a tie on points with Høj Jensen, who still took first place.
The decision was therefore expected for today's final day of the World Cup. Høj Jensen had already announced a match race tactic to keep his pursuer Anders Bertelsen at bay in order to sail home the narrow World Championship victory. But today's weather forecast made those plans obsolete. “This morning we received the weather forecast from the German Weather Service that we would have too much wind for sailing during the morning and midday. The last starting opportunity for the H-boats would have been 14 p.m. That’s why we decided that the H-boats would no longer sail today,” explained Peter Ramcke, sports director Warnemünder Woche. “But we saw a total of eight races under real Warnemünde conditions. “Those were exciting and challenging days of competition,” continued Ramcke.
Thomas Kausen finished the World Championships in third place, making him the best German. The four-time German champion was satisfied with the result: “We had worthy conditions for a world championship. Coming in third, I'm very happy with the result. The two at the front decided on the title between themselves.”
The old and new world champion Høj Jensen summarized the World Cup: “Overall we had great sailing off Warnemünde. But there were also tough and demanding conditions. I would definitely like to come back because the short distances and then the open water are great. But now we’re really exhausted and need a vacation first.”
The awards ceremony will take place this evening at 19 p.m., which will be attended by DSV President Mona Küppers and Tourism Director Matthias Fromm, among others.
