International German Championship at Kiel Week comes to a dramatic end

by segler-zeitung.de on 23 Jun 2016 The International German Championship of the offshore sailors during the Kiel Week did come to an end with a dramatic regatta in a tricky race in the middle of a convergence zone. The yacht crews had to have a feeling for the wind in the end. So the championship did offer all sorts of conditions for the sailors.

In the class ORC III, the 'Bachyachting Racing Team' from Jascha Bach (Netherlands), who was already the set winner, could bring home another victory. In the other two classes, it was tight. There were only 0.2 points between the ORC I winner 'Sportsfreund' (Axel Seehafer, Heiligenhafen/Germany) from the second-placed 'Silva Neo (Dennis Gehrlein, Kiel/Germany). The 'X-Day' from Max Gurgel (Hamburg) did finally become the champion in ORC II after their victory on the last race day.

Race director for the International German Championship Stefan Kunstmann was happy that the risk he took to face the difficult weather scenario was worth it. Because of the tight time schedule, he had decided to start the race, although the pressure areas still had to stabilize.

'So it was tricky for the sailors and they had to accurately read the clouds. But it was not a lottery. If you had the right instinct, you could make quite a bit out of it', said Kunstmann. Altogether the race director experienced the days in Kiel as a worthy championship: For this long distance, which was set in an interesting scenery, strategy and endurance were the key factors for success; in the up and down races, fast and smooth manoeuvres were important. 'It was impressive to see, how well the intense training of the teams in spring paid off. The crews seem to be well prepared for the World Championship in Copenhagen. “

On 'X-Day' from Walter Watermann (Dortmund/Germany) they made every effort to observe the weather in the last race of the ORC II: Strategist Sven Gauter was up on the spreader in the mast until short before the start to find wind patches and thus made a good start possible for his boat. Glider pilot Kai Rohse Brandenburger was also involved in interpreting the cloud pictures. That paid off: 'On the first downwind, we did come back close to 'Sydbank' and passed her on the second', told 'X-Day' helmsman Max Gurgel. Thus the 'X-Day' could keep the 'Sydbank' at a distance also in the overall ranking. The 'Arxes-Tolina BM Yachting' from Peter Beck Mikkelsen (Flensburg/Germany) did end up on the second place of the podium.

Everyone took a deep breath on the yacht 'Sportsfreund' from Axel Seehafer (Heiligenhafen) after they had a look at the list of results. Place three at the end following right after 'Silva Neo' (Dennis Gehrlein) was just about enough for the overall victory. 'Many thanks to the women on 'Tutima', who stayed in front of 'Silva' in the race. Otherwise we would not have made it. It was great to see, how they speeded up in the race.' Having had a strong series of three victories on the up and down races, 'Tutima' had to take rank three in the end. 'We would have needed another day', said helmswoman Kirsten Harmstorf.

After the early title victory of the Dutch 'Bachyachting Racing Team', Knut Freudenberg (Bad Laer/Germany) did manage to get on rank two with his yacht 'Halbtrocken' in ORC III/IV. The ambitions for a medal of the winner from the previous year Juergen Klinghardt (Hamburg) ended in the downwash of the Swedish 'Malin' from Patrik Forsgren.

DSV head of offshore sailing Wolfgang Schaefer was satisfied with the results of the International German Championship. The doctor from Lueneburg had traveled to Kiel to follow the last races. 'Close racing also between gennaker and spinnaker yachts did show, that the formula works', said the skipper of a Farr 40.

After the International German Championship in Kiel, all the champions also have the World Championship in Copenhagen on their schedule. 135 boats have registered for the Worlds in Denmark from 15. until 23. July.

Results International German Championship Offshore

ORC I:
1. 'Sportsfreund“ Axel Seehafer (Heiligenhafen,2.4/2(3)1/2/2/3) points 12.4
2. 'Silva Neo“ Dennis Gehrlein (Schwetzingen,3.6/1/1/2/3(4) 2) points 12.6
3. 'Tutima“ Kirsten Harmstorf (Hamburg,4.8/3 (4)4/1/1/1) 14.8
4. 'Tonnerre de Breskens“ Piet Vroon (NED,1.2(4)2/3/4/3/4)17.2
5. 'Aquis Granus IV“ Rolf-Hendrik Wittenberg (Aachen,7.2/5/5(8)8/8/5) 38.2
6. 'Broader View Hamburg“ Katrin Hilbert (Ratzeburg,6(8)8/8/8/8/8) 46

ORC II:
1. 'X-Day“ Max Gurgel (Hamburg,1.2/4/4/4,5(6)3/1) points 17.7
2. 'Arxes-Tolina BM Yachting“ Peter Beck Mikkelsen (Flensburg,3.6/2/6/4,5/1/2(18)) 19.1
3. 'Sydbank “Torsten Bastiansen (Flensburg,8.4/3/3/2 (4) 1/2) 19.4
4. 'Dockenhuden“ Thomas Jungblut (Hamburg,4.8/5(7)1/2/7/4) 23.8
5. 'Sporthotel“ Karl Dehler (Greifswald,6/6/1/3(7)6/6) 28
6. 'Sirena“ Henrike Soederlund (DEN,9.6/1/2/6/8/4(18)) 30.6

ORC III/VI:
1. 'Bachyachting Racing Team“ Jascha Bach (NED,2.4/1/1/1(3)1/1) points 7.4
2. 'Halbtrocken“ Knut Dr. Freudenberg (Bad Laer,10.8/2/2(3)1/2/2) 19.8
3. 'Malin“ Patrik Forsgren (SWE,13.2/3/3/2/4/4(18)) 29.2
4. 'Patent3“ Henning Tebbe (Hamburg,1.2/4/9/4/6/6(15)) 30.2
5. 'Extreme“ Alstis Kalanavicius (LUT,9.6/5(12)9/8/3/4) 38.6
6. 'Chinook“ Johann Friedrichsen (Flensburg,7.2(11)8/10/7/5/6) 43.2