5.5 Metre French Open at Yacht Club de Cannes - Day 3
by Robert Deaves 25 Sep 2025 15:23 PDT
23-27 September 2025
Despite early promises of a sailable breeze there were no races sailed on the third day of the 5.5 Metre French Open in Cannes, held within the Regates Royales. The wind on the Bay of Cannes remained too light to start a race. The fleet was postponed ashore, then sent afloat when the sea breeze started to build, only to wait for four hours with no more than 2-3 knots and then sent ashore again at 15.15.
New Moon III (BAH 25, Holger KOEHNE, Christoph BURGER, Peter VLASOV) will lead into the final day on Friday with a two-point lead over Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian WILHELMSEN, Herve CUNNINGHAM, Lasse BERTHELSEN), which has a four point lead over third placed Enez C'las II (FRA 63, Nicolas ABIVEN, Yann DELABRIERE, Sylvie DELABRIERE). Two more races are scheduled.
There are several new faces and boats at this event, one of which is Holger Koehne, who had taken the helm of New Moon for the week, his first time in a 5.5 Metre.
He has sailed 6-Metres before and currently sails H-Boats. "My impression is that this is a great class. It is very easy to handle, but only if you have a good crew and it's a very nice boat. It is a very different to the H-Boat, which is lighter but is not so simple to steer. In a 5.5 you can turn faster, and it is much more responsive to the helm. You have to keep it simple and let the boat do the work. When you put the bow down then it goes. You don't have to steer the waves, just let it go so it's quite simple
"I have known Peter [Vaslov] for 40 years and he is asking me all the time, and I said, do you trust me to give me your boat? But it's a very good time here. Everyone is so polite in the class. Maybe if I get asked, I will come again."
Emelie Hess is sailing her third 5.5 Metre event, but the first on the open sea after sailing Unicorn to third place in Berlin a few months back and then Red & White to fifth place at the Evolution Cup at her home club, Seebrucker Regatta Verein, on Chiemsee.
"I think it's an awesome boat for sailing with a small crew with good communication and working together. I love that part of it and it's a good boat for trimming.
"At my home club Jörg [Sonntag] gave the boat to Hannes [Johannes Bandtlow] and he wanted young kids to learn that there are boats other than Optimist and Laser and small dinghies, and so the boat came to my home club, and I joined with the kids to teach them a little bit and help Hannes. He has a good community and for one regatta he searched for someone to helm because all the kids needed to be at school, and I jumped on for my first regatta in Berlin and it was nice." Emelie is also involved with the 'Clean Sailors' organisation, which is helping to safeguard a clean and healthy future of the seas. "We want to make sailing a little bit cleaner and one of the things we are doing is beach cleanups."
As well as dinghies including a 49er FX campaign, Emelie has also sailed keelboats such as an ASO 99 and a H-Boat before, so a 5.5 Metre is not completely new. "There are differences between boats, but it's all the same game. The start, the communication, the upwind, downwind and the gate. Here it is harder of course, there are waves, it's noisy with the sails. You need to be clear want you want and keep safe around the course, especially when there are these big 12 Metres sailing around you.
"The people in the class are awesome. I like them all. I've only known Jörg for a few months since the first regatta. Everyone is funny and looking after everyone, and especially coming into the harbour everyone is helping, and I like that because the sailors are helping each other. On the water we are competing but ashore we are friends, and I think that's important."
Racing in Cannes concludes on Friday with two races scheduled.
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