Nine days between storm and light winds: 88. Warnemünder Woche It ends with satisfied sailors.

9 days, 9 racecourses, 15 class rankings, 386 boats and yachts, 774 sailors
Nine days of sailing, winds ranging from storm to calm, currents and the famous Warnemünde wave: The 88th Warnemünder Woche has offered sailors almost the entire range that the area at the mouth of the Warnow has to offer.

At the start of the regatta, gusts of up to force 8 on the Beaufort scale lashed the Baltic Sea. Midweek, a storm forced several classes to take a break before the weather completely changed for the second weekend. Sunshine and light winds ultimately characterized the final days of racing. Despite the significant variations in conditions, enough races were sailed in all classes to allow for reliable conclusions.

Offshore

Traditionally, the offshore sailors kicked off the regatta week. In strong winds and challenging swells, the first long-distance race took the crews westward towards Kühlungsborn. A long upwind leg, a deep reach, and the final beam reach back to Warnemünde demanded a range of skills from the crews over nearly 30 nautical miles.

The sporting highlight of the offshore program was the circumnavigation of Bornholm. However, due to the forecast of gale-force winds, the course was shortened in time. Instead of circumnavigating Bornholm, the approximately 120 nautical mile route led to a turning point north of Rügen and then back to Warnemünde.
The fastest yachts completed the course in under 13 hours. In the Yardstick rating, Skendata-Illbruck edged out OSPA on corrected time. At the finish line, the two yachts were separated by just under four minutes in elapsed time.

In the ORC ranking, Hauke ​​Sponholz won with Universitas, ahead of Jens Kuphal on Exciter. Jan Laschinsky won the ORC Club ranking with Vaiana, ahead of Markus Linde on Ocean Calling.
To conclude the offshore sailing program, the spa regatta recalled the beginnings of the Warnemünder Woche One hundred years ago. Due to the – in this case – weak wind forecast, this route was also shortened. However, the wind then developed better than expected. The Universitas, with skipper Justus Müller, was the first ship to cross the finish line less than two hours after the start.
Klaus-Dieter Hink won the Yardstick rating with his Saphira after corrected time. Andreas Bloch prevailed in the ORC rating with his Roxy 3.0.

The WIRO-XXL-Cup for the best yacht of all three inland and offshore regattas went to the yacht GERONIMO 2.0 owned by Falk Einecke.

Finn-Dinghy

André Budzien dominated the Finn dinghy regatta from the very beginning. He won two races on the first day, laying the foundation for his eventual overall victory.
The second day of racing proved particularly challenging. With strong winds and high waves, only four of the eleven registered sailors decided to leave the harbor. Two races were completed before the race committee sent the sailors back into port.
On the final day, the top positions remained unchanged. Budzien won ahead of Fabian Lemmel and Harald Weichert.

ILCA4

For the youngest ILCA sailors, the day with strong winds was cancelled for safety reasons. However, Kira Gremlitza delivered a largely confident performance on the other days.
With a fifth-place finish as her discard and a first and a second place in the final races, she secured victory in the Eastern District Championship. Julian Konrad Garbe followed in second place, and Rasmus Buck completed the podium.

ILCA6

Victor Hensel delivered one of the most consistent performances of the entire Warnemünder Woche After finishing second in the first race, he won six races in a row. His second-place finish even became his discard result.
He finished well ahead of Dane Peter Selko and Stephanie Louise Norton from Hong Kong.

ILCA7

In the ILCA-7 class, a close battle developed between Nik Aaron Willim and last year's winner, Ole Schweckendiek. Willim led after the first two days, while Schweckendiek closed the gap, especially in the decisive final races.
With a first and a second place on the final day, the Kiel native delivered a near-perfect performance. Willim repeatedly fought his way to the front, but after a seventh-place finish in the last race, he had to concede defeat. He simply lacked a few meters in the end, as he put it.
Ole Schweckendiek won the Eastern District Championship ahead of Nik Aaron Willim. Norwegian Theodor Middelthon was moved up to third place on the podium after a technicality. Markus Hestbaek had climbed onto the podium after two race wins on the strong wind day, but was disqualified in the penultimate race because he was already on the course before the start.

Topcat

The Topcats got off to a difficult start in the Warnemünder WocheOn the first day, numerous capsizes occurred in the old wave. On the following day, with strong winds, all the catamarans remained in the harbor.
It wasn't until Monday that the classes encountered conditions suitable for multiple races. Sascha Streichel dominated the small Topcat K1 fleet with four wins. Gerrit Haake and Sascha Giebelhausen followed in the subsequent places.
In the Topcat K2 category, Ralf Zank prevailed over Steffen Johne. Matthias Horstmann won the Topcat K3 category ahead of Enno Harders.

O'pen Skiff U13

The youngest participants had to be especially patient during their regatta. After two races to start, a storm prevented further races on Tuesday. A day later, the race committee took advantage of a narrow weather window and completed four races in quick succession.
In high, steep waves, the Pole Milej Krzysztof took the lead. After a seventh-place finish on the first day, he won three of the four final races and finished second in another.
Henryk Glaza from Poland finished in second place. Benedikt Becker was the best German sailor, finishing in third place.

O'pen Skiff U17

Even among the older O'pen skiff sailors, the decision wasn't made until the final day of racing. Pawel Sitko from Poland only managed to secure the top three places in the individual races thanks to his eventual discard.
With two wins, two second places, and one third place, he finished ahead of Rehaan Dar from India. Zahaan Hemrajani from the USA completed the international podium, tied on points with Dar.
Florian Schlupp was the best German participant, finishing in fourth place.

Zoom8

The Boys and Girls Championship began under challenging conditions for the Zoom8 class. On the first day of racing, Wednesday, the wind was at times right at the upper limit of what the young sailors could handle. Conditions changed significantly over the following days. After strong winds at the start, the participants ultimately had to contend with light winds, currents, and several shifts.
However, Austrian Jakob Gsell excelled in all conditions, delivering a consistently strong performance to secure victory at the Zoom8 World Championship. Emily Kargl, also from Austria, also put in a very strong performance, finishing a very close second behind Gsell. Aviaya Hammershøj Callesen from Norway took third place.

J / 70

The 15 J/70 crews competed in their International German Championship off Warnemünde. Mats Schönebeck opened the regatta with two wins and a second place, but had to relinquish the lead to Kai-Uwe Hollweg on the second day of racing.
Hollweg won three of the four races that day and finished second in the fourth. This put him in the lead, a position he never relinquished. Only in the final race did the crew drop their worst result, finishing eighth after having to complete a penalty lap.
Kai-Uwe Hollweg won the German championship title in his first competition on the Warnemünde waters. Mats Schönebeck finished second. Till Pomarius and Mika Trosien tied for third place.

Kielzugvogel

The International German Championship for keelboats started off with problems. After a collision of several boats in the starting phase and the disqualification of Alexander Morgenstern, Frank Schönfeldt was initially in the lead.
Morgenstern, however, was not deterred by the setback. He sailed to victory in the last four races. Even disqualification for illegal pumping and three additional penalty points for an incorrect check-in could no longer prevent him from winning the title.
Alexander Morgenstern won the International German Championship ahead of Frank Schönfeldt. Axel Fischer completed the podium.

corsair

Silja and Jonna Braun dominated the Korsar regatta almost at will. The sibling duo won with an impressive series of eight victories in eight races. However, they had to wait anxiously until the end, as Silja Braun had assumed the regatta would end for the Korsar class on Saturday and was unable to participate in Warnemünde on Sunday – meaning they were awarded the maximum number of points on Sunday.
The Braun siblings were therefore dependent on help from others, as Beate Wahrendorf-Kruck and Ute Rogers could still mathematically catch up with them.
It was ultimately their father, Dirk Braun, with crewman Jürgen Kruck, who secured the victory for his daughters at the Warnemünder Woche He secured the victory in the Korsar class. With two wins in the last two races, he prevented Beate Wahrendorf-Kruck's crew from overtaking the Brauns in the standings.
The sisters have been sailing together in the Korsar class for three years now. Their father introduced them to the class. Since they didn't have enough time for the 470, they opted for the Korsar instead. This year has been going exceptionally well for them. Every time they've competed, they've finished on the podium. Only at the German Championships a few weeks ago did they take second place. They feel very comfortable in the class, emphasize the sense of camaraderie, and also dispel the prejudice that the class is overrun with older sailors. Young crews are still joining, says Jonna Braun. The fact that they know and understand each other so well as sisters helps them on the water. Is that their secret? "We certainly get along very well, but sometimes we also think each other is really annoying," says Jonna Braun with a laugh.
They enjoy coming back to Warnemünde, she says. Let's hope they continue to be passionate about their class and don't lose their enthusiasm.

OK dinghy

André Budzien took an early lead in the OK dinghy class. In light winds, currents, and several shifts, the three-time world champion won two of the first three races.
On Saturday, the field became more tightly packed. Sebastian Schmidt-Klügmann and Mathias Rieck each won a race, while Budzien defended his lead with a fourth and a second place.
Budzien maintained his lead in the overall standings on Sunday as well. In the last two races, he finished directly behind his closest competitor, Cord Prignitz. This was just enough, but a comfortable victory, to win the OK dinghy ranking regatta as part of the Warnemünder Woche to win.

Hobie 16

The Hobie 16s started their International German Championship in light winds. On the first day, it became apparent that the catamarans struggled to get up to speed in winds below eight knots.
On Saturday, however, the wind developed better than predicted. Four races were sailed. After a total of seven races, Dane Nicolaj Bjørnholt and Stine Abratis led ahead of Ingo Delius and Sabine Delius-Wenig. Calle Hulthin Sørensen and Wiebke Finkemeyer were in third place.
Similar conditions prevailed on Sunday. The Danish-German duo Bjørnholt/Abratis further extended their lead with an eighth and a first place finish. However, there was a change on the podium: Ingo Delius and Sabine Delius-Wenig, who had been in second place, finished only in the middle of the pack in the last two races, thus opening the door for Ulf Hahn and Katrin Wiese-Dohse to climb to second place in the overall standings.

Beneteau First 18 SE

In the Beneteau First 18 SE class, a close duel initially developed between Tom Bernstein and Walter Wüllenweber. Wüllenweber won the first two races, but then suffered a setback with a fifth-place finish.
Bernstein took the lead and extended it so much on Saturday that he could no longer be mathematically overtaken before the last possible race.
This meant Tom Bernstein had already secured the victory before the final day. In the only and last race of the series on Sunday, he and his crew sailed to a comfortable fourth place. Jan Wilkens and Tobias Rieger secured third place behind Walter Wüllenweber and Martin Schmidt.

naval cutter

The Warnemünde naval base command also used the Warnemünder Woche again for its local regatta. Eight naval cutters sailed for the challenge trophy of the senior local officer.
After four races, the cutter K71 led the standings.

Conclusion

With the last finishers crossing the line, a Warnemünder Woche The event, which demanded a great deal from the participants and required constant adaptation to the conditions, has come to an end. It was a challenge for everyone – but ultimately ended with beaming faces and much praise for all involved.
"Warnemünde once again gave us the full spectrum of weather. We had stormy winds, we had light winds, we had high waves and no waves, we had strong currents and weak currents. Warnemünde is a sailing area where you can train in all conditions. I'm pleased that we were able to sail on almost every day. Furthermore, by proactively rescheduling the races, we managed to complete the planned races in almost all classes," summarized overall race director Pınar Coşkuner Genç.
She explains that compared to the 2024 Olympic Games, the situation in Warnemünde is even more complicated, as there are even more regatta courses, classes, and sailors to coordinate. The new sports school, located directly on the central pier and in the heart of the regatta action, has made things easier. Warnemünder Woche It has become even more professional. This infrastructure is unique. She hopes that further investments will be made in the site's infrastructure in the future.
"I am very satisfied with the progress of the Warnemünder Woche this year. Unfortunately, we couldn't sail on one day, but we managed to give all classes enough races,” says Ralf Bergel, Chairman of the Warnemünder Woche.
Without the many volunteers, the Warnemünder Woche This format was not possible. The support of our partners also contributed significantly to making it possible to hold the event in this way.
“Next year I am looking forward to the European Championship of the 505 class and the World Championship of the J/22 class as part of the 89th European Championship.” Warnemünder Woche"