5th Baltic Sprint Cup – building on success

by Andreas Kling on 15 Jun 2009 In less than 35 days the fifth Baltic Sprint Cup will start when 34 Offshore Racing Yachts begin the 930-nautical mile course in the southern Baltic Sea. At the same time, with Sankt Petersburg in mind, organizers Sail and Race from Hamburg and London are planning a spectacular new event in the series - possibly in 2010 - and see a positive future despite the economic crisis.

'Showing the huge support and appreciation we have from our city partners, on Saturday, 18th July 2009, Roland Methling, Lord Mayor of Rostock-Warnemünde, will fire the first starting signal right in the centre of the harbour of Warnemünde' said CEO Henning Rocholl of Sail & Race.

Six ports, six mayors as patrons of the fleet and at least 34 yachts (the entry list is not yet closed) with about 250 sailors are building the background of the small Jubilee which will follow the course from Warnemünde in Germany via Rønne (Bornholm – Denmark, Patron Bjarne Kristiansen), Västervik (Sweden, Harald Hjalmarsson), Liepaja (Latvia, Uldis Sesks), Swinoujscie (Poland, Janusz Zmurkiewicz) to Travemünde where Mayor Bernd Saxe will welcome the sailors for the Final Show Down at the conclusion of the 120th Travemünde Week.

The Baltic Sprint Cup 2009 has adjusted to the macroeconomic climate by abstaining from the lavish prize giving parties of the past years. 'The service from our team both ashore and afloat will be dedicated, as always' said Race Director Alan Green who promised that the quality of the competition and the interest and variety of the stopover places and the sailing will as usual be first-class. Green, from London has worked in partnership with Rocholl since the North Atlantic Challenge of 2003 (Newport R.I. – Hamburg). As 'Baltic One' he is established also in the Baltic Sea where his clear, English-language VHF calls are a feature of the Baltic Sprint Cup events.

Beside well-known names in the event who’ve take part in all previous Baltic Sprint Cups, this year 50% of the fleet joins for the first time, hoping to win at least one of the 70 prizes. For example Aquis Granus, a Lutra 52 belonging to the Akademischer Segler-Verein der RWTH in Aachen (skipper Gerhard Henssen), and the youth boat Cool Runnings (FoX9.50) where only skipper Eggert Schütt from Hamburg and his watch captain Ole Breckwoldt from Wedel will raise the average age by 10 years to 29 years. Also welcome newcomers to the fleet are the Netherlands entry Daikin Aircon (Frans van der Heijden), a KER 11.3 and the Swedish Happy (Berndt Frogner), a Farr 40 OD.
HeXe (X442) with Ulf Thiele (Berlin) as skipper, Imagine (IMX40) with Holger Streckenbach from Greifswald and the new Hanse 540e J Four owned by Claus-Georg Nette and skippered by Henning Klaus Neumann (Timmendorfer Strand) will race hard as also will kids@work (Elan 37 spec) with Norman Slomka/Kiel and König & Xie (Matthias Lüning/Hamburg), a two-year-old x41 and Maitresse a Matcher 37 with Frank Krupinska from Heikendorf at the helm, always keenly campaigned.

The same applies for the always very hot raced Needles and pins (J125) from Ulli Münker/Kiel. Oline (X119) with Jens Brandt from Hamburg at the helm and Roxy (IMX 38) with Kai Neumann/Wedel, and as well the Mumm 30 Topas (Dr. Harald Brüning/Kiel) might be as well very hot favourites in the event, same as the Schock 40 Wraith of Gerhard Figge from Bremerhaven.

With a new name, but with BSC experience under former owner Tilmar Hansen, the fast Utsider will take part entered as a youth boat by our co-operation partner Warnemünder Segel Club under skipper Jan Brügge.

The trophy list includes a silver challenge bowl, the Baltic Sprint Cup Award given to the best skipper of the current and previous event combined (this year, the events of 2008 and 2009). 'With only six places vacant, we are proud to have such a great entry list. Of course we have to economise after the departure of our main sponsor,' said Henning Rocholl 'but we much appreciate that despite these difficult times other partners remain: Spezial Electronic AG, Ernst Kabel Druck GmbH and HanseNautic GmbH. All three have helped make the event happen. I would wish that two or three other companies would spontaneous join the event with a four-digit engagement and reserve on this way a partnership for 2010. Our event is unique in visiting so many Baltic ports and countries, drawing in boats and sailors from within the region and outside. Right now there is great potential for expansion. Our planned 'first' of a start in Sankt Petersburg, which may well be in 2010, is especially exciting.'

To gauge the interest in our plans for 2010 and beyond a short poll has just been opened on the event website www.BalticSprintCup.com (menu '2010 - Preview') – we will greatly welcome the views of all sailors.