Day two: Warnemünde challenges the sailors
A day of Warnemünder Woche It usually begins with a glance at the sky and out at the Baltic Sea. This morning, the whistling of the wind already hinted at what was happening off the protective Warnemünde breakwater. With winds gusting up to 37 knots (8 Beaufort), the wind whipped across the beach this morning.
Another low-pressure system moved across the Baltic Sea overnight, bringing a backside effect and strong northwesterly winds. However, unlike the previous day, the wind was not expected to subside during the day. It was therefore no surprise that the race officers listened very carefully during the morning weather briefing, and Principal Race Officer Pinar Coşkuner Genç also wanted to know what the forecast would be for Monday and Tuesday – after all, Monday's offshore highlight, the Round Bornholm race, part of the Wiro XXL Cup, was scheduled for that day.
In fact, the wind is expected to increase even further in the coming days. With the forecast of gusts up to force 10 on Tuesday in mind, the race committee shortened the course on Sunday afternoon so that Bornholm no longer needs to be rounded. The turning point of the "new" long-distance race is now approximately 55 nautical miles north of Rügen. This shortening of the course is intended to bring the crews safely back to Warnemünde before the expected gusts of wind. The start is scheduled for 1 p.m.
But what would happen next today? After all, races were scheduled for Finn Dinghy, ILCA, and Topcat. A decision was to be reached during the morning in close consultation with the individual classes.
Since the Topcats had already struggled with the waves the previous day, a decision was quickly made: the Topcats would remain in port. Instead, an attempt will be made to start four races tomorrow.
Finn
The Finns were the first to cross the starting line at 11.00:12.00 AM – though only four boats instead of eleven. The Finn fleet was already divided in the morning. Half favored starting in these conditions, while the other half was more skeptical. The race committee, led by Ekkehard Schulz, then decided to at least run one race. Most of the participants subsequently chose to stay in the harbor, while four sailors opted to venture out into the waves. Since these four coped well with the conditions, the starting gun for a second race was fired shortly before noon.
“It was hard work out there. But in my opinion, it was okay to start the race and also that some didn't go out. In conclusion, I can say: It was a great day of sailing,” said Harald Weichert, who narrowly defended his podium position today with a second and a third place, finishing behind Fabian Lemmel and André Budzien.
Finally, the wind picked up again during the second race, so the race committee decided not to start a third race, but to bring the sailors into port.
ILCA
It was also clear early on that the youngest participants in the ILCA 4 class would not be competing that day. Several of the starters had already experienced difficulties yesterday, so no further risks were taken today.
For the ILCA 6 and 7, however, it was still supposed to be time to get out on the water. But that proved more difficult than expected. Anchoring with the starting vessel in the waves off Warnemünde was difficult to impossible, so, quite pragmatically, the existing "infrastructure" of course Charlie, where the Finns had completed their races, was used.
For the 35 starters in today's ILCA-7 class, the first starting gun finally sounded shortly before 14.00 p.m. in challenging conditions. A thrilling duel for the podium developed between last year's winner, Ole Schweckendiek, and the current leader, Nik Aaron Willim. In the first race, the Kiel native crossed the finish line ahead of Willim. However, the second race of the day didn't go so well for Schweckendiek.
“I didn’t have a good start in the second race and then struggled to avoid the spins, so I only crossed the finish line in ninth place,” Schweckendiek summarized the second race. Nik Aaron Willim once again delivered a consistent performance, finishing in second place.
In the third race, the situation was reversed: Willim finished seventh, which was his provisional discard result, while Schweckendiek sailed into second place.
The biggest leap, however, was made by Dane Mark Hestbæk, who crossed the finish line first twice, thus overtaking Theodor Middelthon and moving onto the provisional podium. The ILCA-7 fleet is still led by Nik Aaron Willim ahead of Ole Schweckendiek. Three races tomorrow will decide the final standings. The gaps are still so small that changes on the podium are possible, and one mistake could be enough to miss out on victory.
“It was good that we were out. We had a decent swell, which made the sailing very physical. Tomorrow, the goal is to get good starts. But above all, it's about having fun and, of course, seeing what's possible!” Ole Schweckendiek ventured, looking ahead to Monday.
In the ILCA 6 category, Victor Hensel delivered an outstanding performance, dominating the field with a total of four first-place finishes and one second-place finish, which is currently being discarded. The remaining podium places are provisionally held by Peter Selko from Denmark and Stephanie Louise Norton from Hong Kong.
