Norwegian win at IMS600 Worlds

Andreas Kling reports on a light final day of the championship within Rolex Baltic Week

Very light and variable winds were predominant on the fourth day of the Rolex Baltic Week 2005 on today in Neustadt/Holstein, Germany. For the Dragon World Championships and the Swan Race, the breeze was insufficient, so the boats returned to the dock. The IMS 600 yachts, however, spent 11 hours out on the water and sailed four short and tricky races. The Norwegian Al Cap One III with skipper Einar Sissener emerged as the new leader overall.

It was not really good day for the German crews. The IMX-40 Moonshine of Matthias Müller von Blumencron remains the best local team although they slipped from second to fifth place overall. Finishing ninth, eighth, 12th and seventh, they were sharing their bad luck with a couple of other crews. "In this top fleet, we're all going up and down shuffling places," said Blumencron. "We have made a couple of tactical mistakes and had to pay for them." They are still on target, though, which is finishing the regatta among the five best teams.

The best-placed yacht after the long-distance race, Swedish Imagine of Stockholm-based Peter Rudbäck dropped to third. She was overtaken not only by the Norwegians who with their second, seventh, first and second place finishes but were the clear winners of the day. The Italian Movistar of Lorenzo Bressani, with Spanish sailing idol Pedro Campos at the helm, used a bullet in the last race to also overtake Imagine. Two other German ex-favourites managed to improve their rankings. Horst Mann's L+M Hispaniola climbed from tenth to seventh, while Hanseatic Lloyd of Christian Plump moved up from 14th to ninth.

"This race day had it all," reported Boris Hepp, chief measurer of the German Sailing Association. Initially the start was postponed due to the calm. Then the first race only just finished inside the time limit. Then the breeze only slightly increased, and so Race Director Eckart Reinke from Berlin used the remaining time until dusk. Hepp: "The crews fought hard especially at the starting line."

Bobby Luchte from Flensburg was lucky enough to fasten his winner's Rolex timepiece on his wrist. The owner of the Swan 44 MKII Moriju won the Swan Race presented by Deutsche Bank, and he receives a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date. Last year's winner Claus Bressler from Hamburg, whose Swan 56 Chrila had slipped the day before after started off with three wins, had no luck in the final race. The wind died on him as on all the 72 teams of the Hanseatic Lloyd Dragon World Championships. While the Swans finished for good today, two races are scheduled for the Dragons tomorrow to make up for the race cancelled so far.

Results of the Rolex Baltic Week on Tuesday, 23 August 2005

IMS 600 World Championships

Pos	Yacht	Sail no	Helm	Type	Pts(OR1)	Pts(OR2)	Pts(W/L1)	Pts(W/L2)	Pts(W/L3)	Pts(W/L4)	Total
1	AL "CAP" ONE III	NOR 11172	Einar Sissener	Grand Soleil 42R	6.3	6.3	2.0	7.0	0.8	2.0	24.3
2	MOVISTAR	ITA 14888	Pedro Campus	Grand Soleil 42	5.0	5.0	4.0	13.0	6.0	0.8	33.8
3	IMAGINE	SWE 10738	Peter Rudböck	IMX 40	2.5	0.9	13.0	6.0	7.0	6.0	35.4
4	HAGSTROEMER	SWE 22241	Gutta Johanssen	Grand Soleil 42R	8.8	8.8	5.0	8.0	3.0	4.0	37.5
5	MOONSHINE	GER 5060	Matthias Müller von Blumencron	IMX 40	0.9	3.8	9.0	9.0	12.0	7.0	41.7
6	OCEAN WARRIOR	NOR 10333	Sverre Valeur	IMX 40	3.8	2.5	8.0	11.0	8.0	12.0	45.3
7	L+M HISPANIOLA	GER 5611	Horst Mann	Rodman 42	15.0	10.0	11.0	2.0	5.0	3.0	46
8	ABRAXAS	NOR 10140	Eivind Haugan	IMX40	10.0	12.5	6.0	0.8	13.0	5.0	47.3
9	HANSEATIC LLOYD	GER 5355	Christian Plump	Rodman 42	17.5	16.3	0.8	3.0	4.0	8.0	49.5
10	TRANSIT EXPRESS	GER 4743	Thetje Ancker	Luffe	13.8	7.5	7.0	4.5	2.0	16.0	50.8
11	DU SOLEIL	SWE 9	Ingvar Hertzman	IMX 40	18.8	15.0	3.0	4.5	17.0	14.0	72.3
12	CHECKMATE³	NED 5596	Peter de Ridder	BH 41	7.5	11.3	20.0	16.0	10.0	10.0	74.8
13	DAIKIN AIRCO	NED 5885	Frans van der Heijden	Sinergia 40	11.3	13.8	15.0	17.0	11.0	15.0	83
14	EXTASY	GER 5343	Thomas Brügge	X 43	20.0	21.3	10.0	10.0	16.0	11.0	88.3
15	SIXTY 4	GER 5100	Alv Gundlach	IMX 40	21.3	20.0	16.0	15.0	9.0	9.0	90.3
16	WIRED	GER 5656	Jan Duken	Prima 38	12.5	17.5	18.0	18.0	14.0	18.0	98
17	JUGA	RUS 6125	Sergey Bryuzga	Sinergia 40	16.3	18.8	14.0	19.0	19.0	17.0	104
18	PANIC	GER 4472	Jörg Grahl	Bavaria 38 Match	23.8	23.8	16.0	14.0	18.0	13.0	109
19	RESOLUTE	GER 5542	Andreas Lochbrunner	Bavaria 42 Match	22.5	22.5	20.0	12.0	15.0	19.0	111

Swan Race presented by Deutsche Bank

Overall results (four races):

Pos	Boat	Type	Helm	From	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot
1	Moriju	44 MKII	Luchte, Bobby	Flensburg	2	2	2	1	7
2	Chrila	56R	Bressler, Claus	Hamburg	1	1	1	7	10
3	Ivana S.	391	Stahl, Dietrich	Hamburg	3	4	4	3	14
4	Elan	48	Baum, Harald	Hamburg	5	3	3	6	17
5	Jazz	40	Preusse, Matthias	Hamburg	6	6	5	4	21
6	El Safar	46	Rötters, Gerd	Hamburg	4	7	6	5	2
7	Gundel G.	46 MKI	Kießling, Jens-Ulrich	Hamburg	7	8	9	2	26
8	Panini	40/92	Jäger, Christian	Bad Schwartau	8	5	7	8	28
9	Happy Hour	57 RS	Heine, Michael	Berlin	9	9	8	9	35