Soling EM 2023: Return after 37 years
A German sailing legend is closely linked to the history of the Soling class: Jochen Schümann. The best German sailor of all time won Olympic gold in Soling in 1988 and 1996 and a silver medal in Sydney in 2000, the last Olympic year for the class. In addition to numerous gold medals at world and European championships in various classes, he also sailed under the GDR flag with Bernd Jäkel and Thomas Flach at the Soling European Championships in 1986 off Warnemünde to the top of the international field of 47 crews from 16 nations. The year before, Schümann had been beaten by the Norwegian crew around Terje Jang at the European Championships on Lake Balaton, Hungary, by just one point. In Warnemünde he dominated the regatta and won by a wide margin ahead of Lennart Persson's Swedish crew. The German sailors Thomas Jungblut, Thomas Maschkiwitz and Tim Kröger came third.
The Soling is a class of keelboat sailed with a crew of three. In 1964 it was designed by the Norwegian Jan Herman Linge as a successor to the 5.5, which was considered too expensive, and the first prototype was built in 1965. In addition to the Soling, Linge also created the Yngling, which was used at the Olympics in 2004 and 2006. But the Soling was even more successful: it was used at seven Olympic Games between 1972 and 2000 and is still very popular today.
The Soling European Championships were supposed to take place in Warnemünde in 2020, but the corona pandemic, like so many events, made that happen Warnemünder Woche throw a spanner in the works. In 2023 the class will come back to Warnemünde. “I would of course be very happy if Jochen Schümann took part,” said Peter Ramcke, sports director Warnemünder Woche"But even if he doesn't manage to get to Warnemünder, I expect top-class, exciting races." Class president Michael Dietzel is hoping for a field of over 30 teams: "I'm also betting on the Scandinavians, who have a relatively short one have to travel.”
The one is supported Warnemünder Woche Organizing Warnemünde Sailing Club at the Solinge European Championships from the Berlin-Grünau Yacht Club (YCBG). The Berlin club, of which Jochen Schümann also belongs, is taking over the race management of the European Championships and can draw on a lot of experience. In 2015, on the occasion of Soling's 50th birthday, it was the YCBG that organized a Soling European Championship on its home territory of Müggelsee - which Jochen Schümann also won.
If Schümann and his crew come to Warnemünde in July, the sailors can expect a modern marina on the central pier, following the extensive modernization measures of recent years, which leaves nothing to be desired. What has not changed, however, is the perfect area with the famous Warnemünde Wave, which has always thrilled sailors. Even back in 1986.
