Fast start to the regattas

With a lot of pressure in the air and plenty of momentum on four regatta courses off the Warnemünde coast and on the sea course, the Warnemünder Woche from 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, July 6th, in its 86th edition. The wind forecast promises strong gusts of 25 knots and thus a spectacular start to the nine days of regatta.

With the Euro Cups of the three Ilca classes as well as the 505s and the qualifier in the Sailing Champions League, top-class sport is offered from the very beginning - with the appearance of former world champions and current Olympic starters. At the Mecklenburger Bäderregatta with the start and finish off Warnemünde, one yacht is the clear favorite for the unofficial title of "first ship home". The crew on the 75-foot (around 23 meters) long Maxi "Calypso" of Hamburg's Gerhard Clausen should have completed the course of around 21 nautical miles as the fastest team.

In the final preparations for the start of the regatta, the chief race officer of the Warnemünder Woche, Peter Ramcke, naturally takes a critical look at the weather forecast. The forecasts predict challenging but good sailing conditions, so Ramcke is expecting a punctual start. "With the first start at 10 a.m. for the spa regatta, the yachts will be heading westwards towards Kühlungsborn with a half wind. After that, the wind will turn to the west and it will probably head back even faster. In between, the course will be designed in such a way that there will also be a cross course to be mastered," says Ramcke, looking forward to a fast Mecklenburg spa regatta that could be completed in around four hours.

The middle-distance regatta is the start of the WIRO XXL Cup. This combined ranking will be decided with the long-distance regatta around Bornholm, which starts on Monday. Both rankings added together will then decide who will receive the big prize, the WIRO XXL Cup.

Great honors are also to be had on the dinghy courses off Warnemünde. For years, the 505s have enjoyed the top conditions off Warnemünde with the long waves that allow the fast dinghies to surf perfectly. And for the opening weekend, they can dream of hot rides on the Baltic Sea waves - with strong base winds and strong gusts on Course Charlie.

37 crews will be taking to the course on Saturday at 13 p.m., with big names at the start: Lutz Stengel, world champion of 2018, will have to deal with the Danes Jörgen and Jacob Bojsen-Möller on his home turf with Frank Feller on the foredeck. Together, the brothers have formed a top team in the 505s for years. And helmsman Jörgen won Olympic gold in the Flying Dutchman in 1988, and later bronze (1992).

In the three Ilca classes (planned start: 12 noon), the Ilca6, which is Olympic for women, offers the largest field of the 86. Warnemünder Woche 106 athletes will compete together here. For the young men, it is the preparatory class for the Ilca7, the Olympic men's class. The focus is on the Olympic starters from Marseille. The Finnish Monika Mikkola is using the Warnemünder Woche as final preparation for the Olympics. She has just won the Kiel Week. Vaimo 'Oi'A Ripley is also taking part, adding a particularly exotic touch. The 34-year-old has come from Samoa, and thus from the other side of the world. She has received a wildcard for the Olympic Games and is currently acclimatizing to the European climate.

In addition to the Euro Cups, 17 crews from the Sailing Champions League (SCL) will also be on the course on Saturday morning. From 11 a.m., seven tickets for the SCL final in September in Vilamoura, Portugal, will be up for grabs. Clubs from eleven nations are sending their crews to compete in Warnemünde – and it is difficult to identify a favorite.

"We expect that the teams from Austria, the Netherlands and Norway will be very strong alongside the German teams," says Anke Nowak from the SCL. The conditions at the start with the strong gusts could also play into the hands of the home team from ASV Warnemünde. And even Anke Nowak is really excited: "The wind is great, I would like to sail myself."

Warnemünde will be a test run for the Sailing Champions League despite years of experience with the format in which six crews compete against each other in short races. The SCL is testing a new tracking system that shows the course of the races and, if the trial phase is successful, will go into regular operation - including for the Sailing Bundesliga on the second weekend of the Warnemünder Woche – should be recorded.