| Big breezes, but Hollandia
and Vanity V hold firm. |
| By the Rolex Baltic
Week Media Team. |
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Photos by Daniel Forster
for Rolex,
edited By Peter Andrews. |
| June 30, 2011. |
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| GLÜCKSBURG, GERMANY. It was all change on the Flensburg Fjord for day two of the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week, Thursday June 30. After a summery opener, conditions turned to strong and very gusty; westerly winds with bursts reaching 28 knots under a grey and overcast sky. Among the two Metre fleets racing for Robbe & Berking world championship titles, consistency proved key; as those that contended best with the challenging conditions remained on top. |
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The storm approaching, dockside, during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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Ruud van Hilst and Jos Fruytier’s Hollandia (NED) scored another win and a second place to hold steady at the head of the 8-Metre table, whilst Danish Vanity V, owned and helmed by Patrick Howaldt, defended the 12-Metre lead.
"We chose flatter sails and trimmed differently to solve our former disadvantages in strong winds," said Tim van Rootselaar, helmsman of the 2005 world championship-winning 8-Metre Hollandia after the day’s racing. "This worked out fine and we are more than happy with the results so far," he added. |
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Andi Lochbrunner's 8mR Elfe II (H 9, 1912) from Lindau, Germany,
during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| The British boat Lafayette owned by Murdoch McKillop scored the second race win of the day, to finish runner-up after two days of racing; while in third overall, Jean Fabre’s YQuem II (SUI) continued their regular top four finishes. Richard Self and Mark Decelle’s 73-year-old Raven (CAN) also maintained her fast form in strong winds, to finish just three points behind in fourth and continue heading the Sira classic division. |
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Wilfried Beeck's 12mR Trivia (GER 10, 1937) from Hamburg, Germany and
Andreas Wehner's 12mR Evaine (K 2, 1936) from Kiefersfelden, Germany,
during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| The 12-Metre fleet laid on a true spectacle with their giant sail areas, speeding them across the Fjord in the powerful conditions. The first day’s double winner Vanity V could only score two second places on day two, but that remains enough to leave the Danish boat at the head of the Robbe & Berking 12mR World Championship leader board overnight, despite a torn genoa. |
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Werner-Heinz Schifferl’s 8mR Bera (AUT 12, 1922) from
Hörbranz, Austria;
Alexey Rusetsky’s 8mR Astra II (RUS 4, 2007) from
St. Petersburg, Russia; and HM King Harald V of Norway’s Sira 8mR
(NOR 33, 1938)
from Oslo, Norway.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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"Fantastic races with spectacular conditions!" said Skipper Patrick Howaldt. "There were a lot of duels, especially downwind with Trivia and Anitra, which also led to protests. We are happy with two seconds because we don’t prefer strong winds as much."
Instead, the wins were shared by the German boats of Wilfried Beeck’s Trivia, and Gorm Gondesen and Jochen Frank’s Sphinx; while Josef Martin’s Anitra took the remaining podium position of a third in race three. |
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Framnes AS' 12mR Erna Signe (E 8, 1911) from Sandefjord, Norway,
Skipsrederiet Vema III AS and Eric Svenkerud's 12mR Vema III (1933, N 11) from Oslo,
Norway, and Patrick Howaldt's 12mR Vanity V (1936, K 5) from
Copenhagen, Denmark; during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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Guy Ribadeau Dumas, helmsman onboard Sphinx, summed up their day. "In the first race we had too much pressure on the rudder flying the large genoa, but then we trimmed better and had a lot of fun on the water."
Elsewhere, not all the Metre yachts; some of which are over 100 years old; survived such testing conditions unscathed. The 1939-built German 8-Metre yacht Svanevit suffered the worst of the damage, breaking her backstay and consequently suffered a dismasting at deck level |
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Gorm Gondesen and Jochen Frank's 12mR Sphinx (1939, G 4) from Flensburg,
Germany, during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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"We were running downwind and suddenly broke the backstay," said Karsten Niehaus from Cologne, owner and helmsmen of Svanevit. "This was too much for the mast. The Rolex Baltic Week is game over for us unfortunately."
The same fate nearly befell the newer 8-Metre Gefion, although the crew of the 1987 USA design were able to protect the mast from further damage.
"We reacted pretty quick to save the mast, but are not sure yet if we can continue racing," said Helmsman Ronald Palm. "The weather forecast looks even worse with more wind to come." |
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Oliver Berking's 6mR Lillevi (1938, GER 68) from Flensburg, Germany,
and Thomas Kuhmann's 6mR Mena (1946, GER 30) from Munich, Germany,
during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| Elsewhere, sail damage was rife among the fleet with spinnakers shredding or lost overboard during some challenging hoists and drops for the crews. Managing huge sail areas on board the 12-Metre boats like Sphinx and Evaine, the latter steered by Georg Kierspel, were among those to suffer damage. |
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Andreas Wehner's 12mR Evaine (1936, K 2) from Kiefersfelden, Germany,
during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| Flensburg’s sailmakers and riggers look set for the first of many busy evenings this week, with conditions for Day 3 forecast of wind gusts to reach 30-plus knots from the west-south-west. On Friday July 1, racing continues for both 8-Metre and 12-Metre classes at 12:00, while competition also opens for the 6-Metre fleet in the Robbe & Berking Sterling Cup. |
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Hanns-Georg Klein's 8mR Anne Sophie (1938, GER 15) from Munich, Germany,
during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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Results after four races of the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week
Place, Boat name, Owner-Helmsman (origin), R1-R2-R3-R4, points overall
Robbe & Berking 12-Metre World Championship
1. Vanity V, Patrick Howaldt (Denmark), 1-1-2-2, 6.
2. Trivia, Wilfried Beeck (Germany), 3-2-1-3, 9.
3. Sphinx, Gorm Gondesen and Jochen Frank (Germany), 2-3-4-1, 10.
4. Anitra, Josef Martin (Germany), 4-4-3-4, 15.
5. Vema III, Eric Svenkerud (Norway), 6-5-5-DNF, 27.
6. Erna Signe, Einar Sissner (Norway), 7-7-7-6, 27.
Robbe & Berking 8-Metre World Championship
1. Hollandia, Ruud van Hilst/Jos Fruytier (The Netherlands), 1-1-1-2, 5.
2. Lafayette, Murdoch McKillop (Great Britain), 2-4-2-1, 9.
3. YQuem II, Jean Fabre (Switzerland), 3-2-4-3, 12.
4. Raven, Richard Self/Mark Decelles (Canada), 5-3-3-4, 15.
5. Catina VI, Fred Meyer (Switzerland), 7-7-9-6, 29.
6. Sagitta, Timo Saalasti (Finland), 11-12-8-5, 36.
7. Feo, Hans-Peter Strepp (Germany), 9-14-7-7, 37. |
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Timo Saalasti's 8mR Sagitta (1912, FIN 2) from Espoo, Finland, during
the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| For more information about the Rolex Baltic Week, visit the event website at www.rolex-baltic-week.com. |
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| Outimage and Rolex © 2011 |
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