126th Travemünder Woche 2015 - Day 8
by Travemünder Woche Media 28 Jul 2015 00:17 NZST
18-26 July 2015
The world championship decider of the J/22 class was the focus of the eighth day of sailing at the 126th Travemuender Woche. And the crews of the sporty keelboat class apparently knew what they owed the spectators watching the live broadcast in the SAP Sail Cube. They delivered a spectacular final, resulting in celebrations for the Americans at the end. Christopher Doyle snatched the almost certain title from the Dutch team of Jean-Michel Lautier in the last race of the J/22 Marinepool Worlds. And the bronze medal was snatched away from Martin Menzner from Kiel by Reiner Brockerhoff from Duisburg. In addition to the J/22 class, eight other individual classes as well as the yachts took to the course. Although the Laser II and the D-One classes still have another day ahead of them in their world championships, Nick Craig from the UK fetched the title of the D-One early. And Lisa Buddemeier/Matthias Düwel from Hamburg have laid the foundations for a highly probable world championship victory in the Laser II class.
With the start of the day, the previous order of the J/22 world championship seemed to be cemented. Doyle and Lautier achieved their worst results in the total of 13 races and, after a day win, Menzner established a narrow lead ahead of Brockerhoff, who came in third in the race. Thus, the three leading crews could have sailed to protect their positions in the final race. But it turned out differently. Brockerhoff slipped away after the start to the left side of the course, was first to find the right wind and pushed into second place. Menzner and Doyle settled into the midfield. Nevertheless, the American suddenly had his hand on gold since Lautier found himself at the very end of the fleet again. The reason for this: in the style of a match racer, Doyle had prevented the direct rivals for gold to a good start. "We knew that it did not matter which place we sailed into. We therefore had to ensure that Lautier did not sail into the front of the field", Doyle explained the victory tactics. And he could let the reins loose after the position at the first marker, he sailed into tenth place and celebrated his first world championship gold in his 20-year career in the J/22 class. "It really feels great. The key to victory was having a good boat and a strong team", Doyle said, praising his crew Philip Wehrheim and Christopher Stressing and thanking Dirk Plewnia-Glanzmann (SC Rheingau), from whom he had chartered the boat. When he was on the dock, Doyle jumped ashore, hugged his wife and daughter and then looked forward to a "few good German beers" in the evening.
Menzner still managed to come in eleventh place in the final race. But it was not enough for the bronze medal as Brockerhoff crossed the finish line as the winner. "We are happy to have made it onto the podium because we only started out with a finish in 21st place and have steadily worked our way up. Having now reached third place is the icing on the cake", Brickerhoff said.
In contrast to Doyle, Nick Craig from the UK did not have to wait 20 years for his first world championship victory in the D-One class. The single-handed class with a gennaker has only been around since 2010 and Craig has dominated the class for the past three years, having already achieved the world championship triple in Travemünde. With six wins and a third-place finish in the seven races, he does not even have to go out onto the water at the end. But the 16 competitors will probably still see the rear of the Brit in the final race. "If the race is going ahead then I am too. It is just incredibly fun sailing this boat. And there were some great championship days here", Craig said, who was a little sad that only 17 boats had come to the Baltic Sea after the field had been much larger in the past. "There is a large D-One fleet in Italy. But the journey was probably too far for them. I do think that the field will soon grow in Germany as well." With the new design, Craig loves the high speed potential and sailing under a gennaker, which allows for tactical dodges downwind. "It takes a lot of practice to be good in this class", Craig said, who is also active in other classes and became the world champion in the OK-Jolle class in 2011.
A similar superiority to Craig in the D-One class is demonstrated by Lisa Buddemeier/Matthias Düwel (Hamburg) in the Laser II class. They even achieved a series of wins with the exception of one third-place finish. However, the world championship title is not yet set in stone as there are still three races scheduled. Whether they can be sailed on Sunday, given the storm warning over Travemünde for the night, is not yet clear.
There was much trouble on the course on the second day of the German Open for the J/24 class. Half of the fleet interpreted the course incorrectly in the first race of the day and had to abandon the race. In the second race there were some false start disqualifications. In both cases, the previous leader Ian Southworth (UK) was affected by the mishaps and dropped down to tenth place. The all-female crew with Stephanie Köpcke from Hamburg is now in the lead.
The Folkboats also sailed on the same course. However, they did not have any problems with the correct markers for their national championship. Siegfried Busse from Kiel had his feathers ruffled as the German champion and local rival Ulf Kipcke approached closer. But he still has a narrow lead before the final day.
The sea sailors carried out two short races on the course for the second part of the Travemuender Woche. While the first weekend held the middle-distance races, it was now the turn of the up-and-down races. For the sporty ORC class, Peter Beck Mikkelsen with the "BM Yachting" (Flendburg) twice had his bow in front on corrected time, thus clearly leading in the detailed score according to the ORC II. The only starter in the ORC I is the "Sportsfruend" of Axel Seehafer (Heiligenhafen), while the leader of the ORC III class, the "patent"" (Henning Tebbe, Bremen) has to face six opponents.
The Kielzugvögel were quicker than planned. They completed their full TW programme already by Saturday afternoon and will no longer head out onto the water on Sunday as scheduled.
The schedule still stands for the other classes on the last day of the 126th Travemuender Woche. The kings of the TW are fighting back in the Formula 18 class. Helge and Christian Sach (Zarnekau), who have already celebrated 19 victories in the Bay of Lübeck, took over the lead with two wins and a second-place finish on Saturday and are now on course for victory.
The presence of the International 14 and Musto Skiffs could be a brief treat. They first started in the TW today and will manage two or three races. Whether it will continue for them tomorrow depends on the wind conditions, even more so than for other classes. European champion in the Musto Skiff class, Frithjof Schwerdt (Kiel), and Björn Frasch/Martin Holste (Lübeck) in the International 14 can wait for further action with confidence from the leadership position.
Onshore summary of the 126th Travemuender Woche
"The conception of the Travemuender Woche is once again a complete success this year. We had great sailing conditions with attractive championships, sailing up close and a family atmosphere onshore and on the water", concluded Frank Schärffe, managing director of the Travemünder Woche GmbH. "Above all, the sailors who were here for the first time are delighted. We have received much praise for the organisation from the classes. The festival programme was well balanced, the attractiveness of the fan mile increased with the culinary delights from Tim Mälzer and, with the close-up sailing action with the SAP Sail Cube and the Trave Races, we noticed that the public showed more and more interest in the sport of sailing. I particularly enjoyed the Volksbank Rotspon Cup as a central and traditional element of the TW – despite the defeat of the local hero Bernd Saxe."
The head of the onshore programme Uwe Bergmann can supplement Schärffe's summary: "The fan mile was well attended, especially during the first weekend as well as on Tuesday and Wednesday. With the expected thunderstorms and rain showers tonight, we will reach approximately 850,000 visitors. It was a peaceful and successful Travemuender Woche. The guest structure was nice – so many tourists, families and visitors of all ages on the fan mile. The stand operators are happy with their business. The music programme was varied and brilliant. The age structure at the beach clubs is also pleasing – I am no longer the oldest there", Bergmann said. The police and security services are also satisfied: "The guests were disciplined and the preventive presence of the police has had a positive effect", Bergmann reported.
But a drawback still remains: "We are very worried about which areas of the Travemuender Woche can be made available by the city in the future. Due to the construction work on the Privall Peninsula, large areas there will probably no longer be accessible", Frank Schärffe said. "We are worried about alternatives since the special aspect of the TW is that sailors and visitors are very close together and that the sailors have camping facilities as close to the water as possible. We hope that not too many areas near the water will be lost."
When it comes to sponsors, Schärffe is in good spirits: "We are in good discussions with a new mobility partner. And the SAP is happy with their participation in the TW – the contract will continue."