Farr 40s and Melges 24s flex their muscles

As Rolex Baltic Week fires up tomorrow in Neustadt

With 24 hours to go, participants in the fourth Rolex Baltic Week were making their final tests today on the Baltic Sea off Neustadt where the first race of the Farr 40 class will start on Friday (17 August) at 1100. This will be the first time ever the Farr 40s have raced in Germany. Rolex Baltic Week also represents the fifth and final round of the class' European Circuit.

A warning of strong gale-force gusts was published by the Trave Traffic in Travemuende came true in the afternoon making for challenging conditions on the race course. When the sky darkened and visibility suddenly got poor, the thirteen Farr 40s out on the water were hit by a nasty squall, but braved the conditions and returned safely to port.

"We have been out twice for training sessions, because we had to fine-tune our rig trim," said German Wolfgang Schaefer, owner and skipper of Struntje Light. He wasn't happy with the yacht's acceleration in gusts. "On most of the other boats the crews are still working in order to find the ideal adjustments for the local conditions," explained the doctor. Although the forecast for the next days sees a little improvement, the wind is forecast to remain difficult and shifty.

Schaefer not only has his regular tactician Jesper Bank from Denmark on board, the former skipper of the German America's Cup team, but also Tony Kolb, another experienced AC sailor. "The team is well prepared," said Schaefer. "We will manage the conditions and hope to end up on the podium."

While the Farr 40 teams had passed their various measurement procedures on Thursday, most of the Melges 24 crews were still in the process of registering before they will have to stand the measurers' scrutiny. They will start their European Championship one day later on Saturday afternoon at 1400. The entry list includes an impressive 79 teams from 14 nations, setting a new record for northern Europe. "The sailors have already been impressed of the set-up which we established in the Ancora Marina with the help of our title sponsor Rolex," said Torben Knappe of the organising club Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV), based in Hamburg.

The Italian teams are the favourites in the Melges 24 field. World Champion Nicola Celon on board Bete Bessini and Lorenzo Bressani sailing on Uka Uka, owned by Lorenzo Santini, are favourites for the championship. Santini who is in the Melges 24 class for his first season has entrusted the helm to the hands of Bressani, who won the IMS 600 World Championship during the Rolex Baltic Week in 2005. Francesco Bruni joins the crew as tactician, following his stint as strategist for Luna Rossa Challenge.

Farr 40 entries

Australia AUS 5868 Sputnik	Ivan Wheen
Australia AUS 6038 Ichi Ban	Matt Allen
Australia AUS 8883 Kokomo	Lang Walker
Denmark DEN 2900 Backbone	Thomas Kiær
Denmark DEN 7217 Baloo 110	Jens Erik Høst
Finland FIN 13131 Siragusawa	Olli-Pekka Lumijärvi
United Kingdom GBR 1640 R Monkey Class 2	Ole van der Heide
Germany GER 5055 Struntje light	Wolfgang Schaefer
Germany GER5565 Opus one	Wolfgang Stolz
Italy ITA 252 Fiamma	Alessandro Barnaba
Ukraine UKR 78	Vasyl Gureyev
United States USA 46957 Groovederci	John Demourkas
United States USA 50001 Flash Gordon 5	Helmut Jahn
United States USA 50955 Barking Mad	James Richardson

Melges 24 European Championship entries

Austria AUT 164 SauFaz	Alexander Kastinger
Austria AUT531 Edelweiß	Michael Schineis
Belgium BEL 390 chagal	van damme marc
Czech Republic CZE 666 Radost II.	Milan Hájek
Czech Republic CZE 711 Pina Colada	Tomas Musil
Denmark DEN 454 Akticon	Soeren Ebdrup
Estonia EST 476 Black Pearl	Tiit Vihul
Estonia EST 646 Lenny	Tõnu Tõniste
Estonia EST465 zuxu	peter saraskin
Finland FIN 328 Elsa	Paul Andersson
Finland FIN 434 TBA	Eki Heinonen
Finland FIN 662 Kaiser Soze	Jaakko Perimaa
Finland FIN-529 Midnight Sun Sailing One	Sami Ekblad
Finland FIN-650 POHJOLA-FONECTA FINDER	Tomi Hakola
France FRA 261 Côtes d'Armor Perros-Guirec	Albaret antoine
France FRA 329 Flor direct	Alain Roig
France FRA 470 côtes d'armor	mathilde GERON
France FRA 612 ENCORE	de KERVENOAEL CEDRIC
France FRA 639 EURO-VOILES	INFANTE DENIS
France FRA 644 Zig Zag 18	Henri Samuel
FRA389 Marseille big ship Quantum	Maxime Paul
France FRA392 Speed'eau	Antoine JEU
United Kingdom GBR 431 Aqua Racing	John-Christian Erricsson
United Kingdom GBR 527 Comfortably Numb	Simon Dobson
United Kingdom GBR 557 GBR557	David Rowen
United Kingdom GBR 578 High Maintenance	Eamonn O'Nolan
United Kingdom GBR 654 Natural Mojo	Miles Quinton
United Kingdom GBR 690 excellent	john pollard
United Kingdom GBR691 Team Barbarians	Stuart Simpson
Germany GER 224 TOURING JUNIOR	Patrick Follmann
GER 263 No Limits	Konrad Kühner
Germany GER 266 Bostik Bad Boys	Jan Schmidt
Germany GER 325 Haiopei	Jörn Petry
Germany GER 327 Sayonara-light.com	Sascha Jäger
Germany GER 334 Acatenango	Markus Scheel
Germany GER 377 Offset	Jürgen Waschek
Germany GER 537 MACS	Dietrich Scheder-Bieschin
Germany GER 543 Ferun	Lennart Briesenick-Pudenz
Germany GER 582 No Woman No Cry	Alba Batzill
Germany GER 586 Deepblue	Frithjof Thorsten Ohin - Bendic
GER 594 tba	Marcus Brennecke
Germany GER 627 Rat Pack	Oliver Schwall
Germany GER 640 Ka Nalu Nui	Günter Tzeschlock
Germany GER 672 Pearl	Peter Göckel
Germany GER 713 Black Label	Johannes Kaske
Italy ITA UKA UKA	Lorenzo Bressani
Italy ITA 355 UE UE	Valerio Brighenti
Italy ITA 409 Alina - Helly Hansen	Luca Valerio
Italy ITA 468 Giogi	Matteo Balestrero
Italy ITA 528 se godemo	STEFANO CHERIN
Italy ITA 571 Fishdog	Augusto Viansson-Ponte
Italy ITA 580 Airis	Sandro Montefusco
Italy ITA 608 mas amantes	Roberta de Paoli
Italy ITA 643 BETE BOSSINI	NICOLA CELON
Italy ITA 651 mataran	di properzio stefano
Italy Ita 673 gullisara	mario ziliani
Italy ITA 683 BILLO BACCANI	FURIO PATRIZIO MONACO
Italy ITA-438 Altea	andrea racchelli
Netherlands NED 117 Tape That	Carlo Vroon
Netherlands NED 442 DDL	Jeroen Lolcama
NOR 341 Dolly	TBN TBN
Norway NOR 374 Fua Tri	Bjoern M.Pedersen
Norway NOR 554 Terra Eiendomsmegling	Peder Jahre
Norway NOR 560 Lycke II	Arne David-Andersen
Norway Nor 706 New Deal	Jørgen G. Heje
Norway NOR-600 Peder Nergaard	Peder Nergaard
Switzerland SUI 382 ZEROTWO / e-brokerline.com	Good Michael
Switzerland SUI 521 BLU MOON	Flavio Flavini
Switzerland SUI 530 Acqua	Caspar Buettner
Switzerland SUI 578 music55	Daniel Schroff
Switzerland SUI 684 SONNENKÖNIG	Hendrik Witzmann
Switzerland SUI 7XX sunshinetour`s	August Schram
Switzerland SUI-336 Meister Ropes	Hansmartin Amrein
Sweden SWE 172 Team Jacuzzi	Torsten Bergh
Sweden SWE 395 Sting	Johan Forssman
Sweden SWE 508 Sitting Duck	Anders Waldner
Sweden swe 532 rocad racing team	ingemar sundstedt
Sweden SWE230 MissMess	Fredrik Rege