RS Championships at Travemunder Woche – Full report

by Travemunder Woche on 1 Aug 2016 Finally a morning at the Travemuender Woche, where sailors did get out on the water in time for their races! 'That makes you definitely a bit more relaxed', said the overall race director Brian Schweder. That he was kept in suspense anyway during the day, was the result of the upcoming front with strong winds, which just slightly touched the bay of Luebeck in the end.

'There was only some rain in the end, and we could calm down the race directors on the race courses. But we were permanently in touch with our weather expert Meeno Schrader and also watched the weather radar', stated Schweder.

After having completed a good program on Friday, he can now be relaxed for the weekend, since the championships have already sailed enough races for a valid ranking. For the five RS classes with their World and European Championships if was the closing of the Travemuender Woche.

RS 100 Europeans
The new European Champion Mark Harrison in the one-man boat class with gennaker did only bring first and second positions into the final ranking. Thus the British sailor did win in front of his countrymen Greg Booth and Giles Peckham. The Australian Paul Tadich had to take rank four, but was nevertheless thrilled. 'It was definitely worth the long way from Australia. The guys at home are really jealous. We'll be back“, said Tadich.

RS Aero Europeans
In three classes - divided up according to the different sail sizes (5, 7, 9 square metres) - it was the first European Championship of the young Aero class. And the sailors from Eastern Europe did surprise the British sailors in this one-man dinghy, who are normally used to winning the races. With four victories in nine races of the Aero 7, the Russian Dmitry Tretyakov did show the strongest performance and did win gold, followed by Kristo Ounap (Estonia) and Simonas Jersovas (Lithuania). The best German sailor was Marcus Walther from Langen (Hesse) on rank twelve.

'I formerly sailed Finn and Europe and recently made a break for three, four years. Therefore I am really satisfied, although I was looking at a rank in the top 10', explained Walther. However it had been difficult in the young class to predict results. 'My problem was having to sail against the guys, who are 20 years younger. You even realise that in the motor functions. But I sailed into fifth position once at least', said the 50-year old.

In the small fleets of the Aero 5 and 9, the British with the 15-year old Archie Hainsworth (Aero 5) and Richard Watsham (Aero 9) did keep their top positions without any damage.

RS 200 Gold Cup
The fleet of the RS 200 was all British, and Josh Metcalfe/Mille Alcock were doing their laps at the top of the fleet. Even a small mishap in the middle of the championship did not slow them down. With seven first positions in the series of ten races, they were clearly leading in front of James Penty/GeorgeStainforth and Oliver Groves/Esther Parkhurst.

RS 400 Europeans
Heather Chipperfield from Great Britain, the RS 500 World Championship of the previous year and representative of the RS classes at the Travemuender Woche, was praising the event: 'Travemuende did meet our expectations and even exceeded them. The wind was tricky, but the professional race team has done a good job.'

Being seventh, she was close to the top with her helmsman KevinPodger. 'We were lacking only one point to rank five', said Chipperfield. To rank three, it was already 19 points. The trio at the top were Stewart and Sarah Robertson, David Brown/Rebecca Witt as well as Steve Restall/Chris Stubbs. As a farewell from Travemuende, Chipperfield added: 'Sorry about Brexit.“

RS 500 Worlds
'We are happy. It has been a great week here. Unfortunately we could not sail all races, that were planned', said Pim van Vugt. 'But the races we sailed, were great. Especially the last day', stated the sailor from the Netherlands. That he had been happy with that, could be seen in the results.

As pursuer of the Swedish Martin and Axel Johansson, who were leading until then, he had started into the last day together with his sister. He did triumph in the end. With the series 1, 3, 5, 1, the siblings from the Netherlands did push the Swedish brothers, who had not had an entirely good day and had to cope with two mediocre races, back to rank two.

'Normally we like the light winds, but our speed in the conditions today was better than that of the Swedish team. It was a great fight', said the 21-year old van Vogt, who did celebrate his first World Championship title of his sailing career together with his younger sister.

Last year, the two top crews had been on rank six and seven. The Italian Frederica Maccari/Stefano Costini did win the bronze medal. Best Germans were Christian Brandt/Thomas Stepan (Hamburg/Germany) on rank 22.

Splash Blue Worlds
After the rest day, the Splash Blue sailors were divided into the gold and silver fleet in their final round for their races. Both groups did sail three races on Friday, so the athletes have been on the race course for a long time and even sailed the Trave Races in the evening. Before the two outstanding races, that are scheduled for Sunday, the Czech Michal Kostyoe is well in the lead. He is separated from the first pursuer, Sam Peeks from the Netherlands, who now has to compete against his countrywoman Maartje Drontmann in the fight for the silver medal, by 17 points.

Splash Red Euro Cup
The Dutch sailors are also in the chasing role in the Splash Red. Julia Aartsen and Kaj Moorman are setting the Swiss Matthias Meier under pressure before the final race day.

Must Skiff German Open
The start into the German title races of the Musto Skiffs with an international fleet could have not been better for Frithjof Schwerdt from the Potsdam Yacht Club. Conclusion: four races, four victories. 'I was surprised myself, how well it went. I did get along well with the shifting winds', said Schwerdt, who only had Andi Lachenschmid on his heels in the first race. The World Champion from Augsburg (Germany) had a bad day, once got stuck in a patch of calm air and was disqualified twice for starting to early. So he now is only on rank 19. The strongest pursuer of Schwerdt is Paul Dijkstra from the Netherlands. 'The fleet is really strong, much stronger than at the Kiel Week. Apart from a few British sailors, the best Europeans are at the start', said Schwerdt.

J/22 German Open
In the German title races, Martin Menzner did recover well from the disqualification due to an early start in the first race. The sailors from Kiel did move up to the top of the fleet with the series 2, 2, 1, 1, 4 - followed by the German French sailing community around Reiner Brockerhoff (Duisburg) and the Svend Hartog's crew from Luebeck. These three crews will very likely be deciding the German Open final ranking among them on Sunday.

Laser Standard/Radial German Masters
After the Laser Youth it's now time for the Championship of the Laser Seniors at the Travemuender Woche. Divided into different age groups, Hannes Hollander (Wedel/Germany) is dominating the Standards and Jan Lietzmann (Hamburg/Germany) the Radials.

Formula 18
The young sailors Finn Heeg/Merle Baars from Flensburg are really aiming for the crown. After four races in the Formula 18 catamaran, they are clearly in front of the record Travemuender Woche winners Helge and Christian Sach.

'We had a great run today. With the changing winds, there were plenty of tactical options. We got it quite well', said Finn Heeg. The dream to finally bring the generation change at the Travemuender Woche might become reality. 'We normally meet the Sach brothers only at big events. To beat the two would be really great. We never managed to beat them yet. They are a real benchmark. Around 100 years of sailing experience on one boat.' After the positions 2, 1, 1, 1, Heeg/Baars are already leading by seven points.