126th Travemünder Woche 2015 - Day 1
by Travemünder Woche Media 19 Jul 2015 07:44 BST
18-26 July 2015
The Travemuender Woche is off to a perfect start to the sailing events. At 10 a.m. on Saturday, the race director Wolle Bahr released the seagoing yachts onto the courses on the first day of racing of the Travemuender Woche in its 126th year. The crews of the big boats as well as the following classes on the triangle courses and the sailors of the 1st and 2nd national sailing leagues could also enjoy perfect sailing conditions and fast races.
With the Open FUN, a class also entered into the high-class championship action. In addition, the sailors of the individual keelboat classes are competing for a European title. And the small Italian fleet lived up to its role as the favourite. The crew of Roberto Benedetti from Lombardy sailed into position 1, 2, 1 in three races, leaving the local rival Marco Redaelli far behind, who nevertheless snatched the third stage win. The German class boss Jan Kramer (Bad Zwischenahn) managed to break the superiority of the Italians at least once with a second place position in the third race of the day. He was pleased with finishing third overall, however, with some reservations: "We were unlucky in the second race when we tore the foresheet ten seconds before starting. We had to rush afterwards but were able to work our way into the middle field", Kramer reported on a hard day at sea. With regards to the wind and weather: "It could not have been better". He and his crew will be looking to take second place in the coming days: "Redaelli, the Italian class president, is within striking distance and that certainly suits us. Benedetti, on the other hand, is semi-professional and hard to beat. He is a boat trader and works with sail makers. He therefore lives and sleeps sails", Kramer said.
There was also a full programme aside from the championship events. Six classes started in their rankings regattas. With two races, the Trias class was held back a little but Holger Köhne from Potsdam impressively took the lead with two wins. Likewise, Harry Voss (Schaumberg-Lippe) sailed confidently in the O-Jolle class. He even scored first place in three races. There was also a clear leadership in the 505, the Finns and the Contender classes. In three races, the respective leaders only slipped up once with a second place position and two victories. Ulli Kurfeld from Wismar, who always likes to make the short trip to Travemünde, is the top favourite for the Olympic Finns. He is leading well ahead of Dirk Meid from Mendig. The former world champion Jan von der Bank (Eutin) and Simon Mussel from the UK are fighting a very close duel at the top of the Contender class. While von der Bank won the first race, Mussel (the vice world champion in 2013) then took two wins and the overall lead. Jens Olbrysch/Oliver Thies (Herrsching) have the measure of things in the fast 505 dinghy class. They have already achieved a lead of eleven points ahead of the opening race winners Peter Gerdts/Christian Labenz (Wuppertal).
There was much turbulence and even a breakage in the strong gusts of the first day for the 18-Footers. The over-rigged skiffs were largely over the limits of possibilities. Two of the six competing teams had to retire with a breakage. A third team also did not reach the finish line. Thus, the familiar appearance of Flemming Clausen from Denmark in the lead position emerged from the only race.
After the first day, the sailors of the seagoing yachts who have signed up for the middle-distance races have already reached half-time at the TW. The big boats moved swiftly through the Bay of Lübeck in the first of two races in this rating. After the start under the spinnaker off the Brodtener Ufer, they zig-zagged through the area. And after the target destination, which also located off Brodten, the teams only had a short way back to the harbour.
Hauke Haberlandt (SV Herrenwyk), who won the race with the "Bannerouge" in the largest OSC rating class (OSC II), was enthusiastic about the day: "That was a great day of sailing today. We had up to 26 knots of wind and we were fast with up to 10 knots under the spinnaker. The course was perfectly designed", Haberlandt enthused. The return to Travemünde in the evening to enjoy the festival suited the crew: "I think it is good that we don't go on to Grömitz for a change." Despite the victory, he did not make any predictions for the second part of the middle-distance race, which takes place on Sunday: "We are excited about tomorrow because there will be different wind conditions."
Alongside Haberlandt, Meinhard Braedel (Bargteheide) with the "Filou" (OSC I) and Holger Hagemeister from Zarpen ("Nossa", OSC IV) also celebrated wins in the yardstick ratings. In the highly ambitious ORC classes, Axel Seehafer (Heiligenhafen) with his "Sportsfreund" (ORC 1), Georg Westphal (Lübeck) with the "Ella" (ORC 2) and Olivier Devrient (Berlin) with the "Lottchen" (ORC 3) took the lead after the first part of the middle-distance races.
The sailors of the national sailing league also made their appearance for the first TW weekend. Unlike the previous year, the course is not directly within sight of the spectators due to the offshore wind. However, the transmission to the SAP Sail Cube took the audience on the beach promenade into the action. The sport of sailing was tangible here with on-board cameras and recordings from motor boats and the view from the balloon. And the Flensburg Sailing Club showed in the 1st national sailing league how to sail successfully, working their way to the top with three wins in three races.
Michael Ilgenstein, helmsman of the FSC, was pleased with the perfect start. The crews were sent to the courses race after race and the FSC got everything out of the boat. "The second race was particularly treasured since we showed that we can come back. At first we were last, then fourth and finally in the lead at the finish. This provides security for the days to come. In the first race we had a classic start-to-finish victory." It is not surprising that Ilgenstein was happy afterwards: "No matter where, sailing is always pure adrenaline."
There were ups and downs for YC Berlin-Grünau. Helmsman Robert Stanjek, Olympian from 2012 in the Star boat class, accumulated a last place, a fourth place and a win: "The recipe is to start well and then to dominate the right side in order to stay in the right-of-way position. That is the key here in Travemünde." One doesn't always need to be on guard, however, in the short races of the national sailing league: "The profile of the race is very special. One cannot practice a lot and it requires a steep learning curve during the race", said Stanjek, who is in seventh place of the 18 teams after three races.
Of particular interest to the Lübeck spectators was the action of the 2nd national sailing league. Two local teams are represented here with the Lübecker SV and the Lübecker YC. The LSV could be pleased with their entrance. A race victory at the start followed by a fourth place finish put the team led by helmsman Nils Hartog into fourth position. However, the Lübecker YC led by helmsman Oltmann Thyen had to settle with eighth position in the standings after two races.
The first TW weekend is also going well onshore. "Wonderful temperatures – not too hot, not too cold – attract many visitors to Travemünde. Yesterday's opening was very peaceful and atmospheric. Many visitors also enjoy shopping at the numerous stalls, which means that vendors are extremely satisfied. We expect more than 300,000 visitors over the first weekend", said Uwe Bergmann, the chief organiser of the onshore programme. "Marinepool has experienced record sales in the first 24 hours."
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