MOB skipper still missing in European regatta

by Baltic Sprint Cup media on 21 Jul 2009
On Monday (20 July) a dramatic emergency was reported from the offshore regatta. During the race’s second leg from Rønne on the island of Bornholm/Denmark to Vaestervik in Sweden, the female skipper of the German yacht 'DHH Cross-Match', Sabine Juettner-Storp, went overboard.

The immediately called rescue search is being coordinated by the Danish SAR rescue centre. Apart from a Swedish rescue helicopter and two rescue boats, 15 other yachts from the regatta fleet took part in the search, which had been without success when darkness fell.

The second leg of this international regatta had been started in medium to fresh west-southwesterly winds on Monday afternoon (20 July). At the time of the emergency happened, the sea state to the northeast of the Danish island of Bornholm was moderate with waves of a half to a metre of height.

The twelve-metre long X-40 'DHH Cross-Match' is part of the regatta group of the Deutscher Hochseesportverband Hansa (DHH) from Gluecksburg, Germany, and the fleet’s only yacht with an all-female crew of six experienced sailors.

The emergency call reached the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre MRSC situated on the island of Bornholm, a sub-division of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre JRCC Denmark. The accident is said to be the result of a tragic link of unfortunate events, when the skipper tried to clear a foresail wrapped around the forestay. All efforts to locate Luebeck-born Sabine Juettner-Stork after her fall overboard have failed so far. The 54-year old is known for her calmness and many years of experience. After successfully crossing the Atlantic in 2007, it was her second Baltic
Sprint Cup.

'The entire race community is deeply shocked', said event manager Henning Rocholl from Hamburg, Germany and race director Alan Green from London, United Kingdom, before he turned back to Bornholm in the middle of
the night to Tuesday (21 July). The second of five legs in total was abandoned by the race committee.

It is the fifth edition of the Baltic Sprint Cup this year. The race was started on Saturday (18 July) in Warnemuende, Germany, and will lead 930 nautical miles across the Baltic Sea with stopovers in Latvia and Poland to follow. The yachts are expected to cross the finish line on 31 July in Travemuende, Germany as the final destination. Three of the 33 yachts of the fleet are from abroad, 30 flying the German flag.

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