Preview: Around Bornholm starts on Monday
Around Bornholm is one of the few real offshore regattas in the Baltic Sea. There are 280 nautical miles of open sea to conquer. The crews use the Danish island of Bornholm as a turning point, which they choose to leave on the port or starboard side before heading back to Warnemünde. The decision as to which way around the island is passed has a major influence on the further course of the race.
If the weather forecast holds until tomorrow for the first start at 12.05 p.m., the sailors can expect wind from the west of around twelve knots, i.e. sailing under gennaker or spinnaker on the way to Bornholm. The crews are expected to return to Warnemünde on a local course. “Above all, I hope that the sailors have a lot of fun, whatever the weather looks like at the moment,” says Laura Kühlewind, race director for the offshore regattas. She recommends that viewers on land “go to the western pier. You can watch the start well from there.”
In the two different measurement systems ORC and Yardstick, a total of 24 teams registered for the long-distance regatta, ten in ORC and 14 in Yardstick. In the ORC ranking, based on time sailed, the modified Rainbow 42 “Uijuijui 4” from Friedrich Hausmann (Berlin), the Pogo 44 “Mariejo” with skipper Tobias Brinkmann (Hamburg) and the “Tøsen 2” from a MAT 1180 from Carl Rasmus Richardsen (Flensburg) is to be expected. The participation of Marc Eric Siewert and Maurice Ostert, who compete with Siewert's Mini 650 “Loukkoum'mama”, is also being watched with interest. Siewert, who competes for the Hamburg Sailing Club, took part in the Mini Transat single-handed transatlantic regatta last year. He is considered a young talent in German offshore professional sport.
The current distance record for the 270 nautical miles is 24 hours, 54 minutes and 23 seconds, set by “OSPA” in 2019. The Volvo Ocean 60 boat has already taken part in the 2001/02 edition of the Volvo under the name “SEB”. Participated in the Ocean Race. The “OSPA” has announced its participation in Rund Bornholm, as has a second Volvo Ocean Racer, the “Illbruck”. This was the first German ship to win the Volvo Ocean Race around the world in 2001/2002. Both ocean racers start in the Yardstick classification and are probably the most promising candidates for the title of “First Ship Home”.
Claus Ruhe Madsen, who served as patron of the last year Warnemünder Woche had promised to take part in Rund Bornholm, is not sailing. The former mayor of Rostock resigned from his mayoralty just a few days ago to take over the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Schleswig-Holstein.
The award ceremony for Rund Bornholm will take place on Thursday, July 7th. During the award ceremony, the WIRO XXL Cup will also be awarded to the ship that won the overall ranking from the Mecklenburg Baths Regatta and Rund Bornholm.
Those interested can follow the participants' positions live thanks to real-time tracking from Fleetmon. This is on the website Warnemünder Woche under www.warnemuender-woche.com/tracking-rund-bornholm a DAK Bungalow.
