Goodbye to Poland

Andreas Kling reports from the start of the Gdansk to Copenhagen leg of the Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup

While Tthe X-442 Emil Reiseschwein is leading the fleet overall, the one-off Inschallah
VI, the J/109 Brinkmann & Partner and the Comfortina 42 Meltemi are hot on their heels. While Stefan Hummelt's Emil Reiseschwein is flying the yellow flag as the 'temporary winner overall when the two discards kick in after leg seven it may be Inschallah VI who is ahead.

The fleet of 41 lined up at the start in a force 3 southwest wind off Gdansk with a lot of excitement. Despite having the longest leg of the race at 260 nautical miles in front of them, the crews where fighting for every inch at the line. Meltemi, skippered by Harald Graf Saurma-Jeltsch was over excited and was over early.

With a lot of shouting on board, the A class yachts approached the line. The DK46 Tutima of Thomas Ebert managed to get the best start. However Volker Andreae with Inschallah VI sailed faster, but too fast it seemed as the Race Committee decided to sent him back to restart as well.

And so the sailors waved goodbye to their Polish hosts and the beautiful skyline of the old town. The sailors had been warmly welcomed and felt very comfortable in Gdansk. "It is a pity that our stopover in Gdansk was very short", many of them remarked.

In addition to being the longest leg of the race, the leg from Gdansk to Copenhagen also looks set to be upwind. The most important tactical decision for the strategists on board is should they round the Danish island of Bornholm to port or to starboard? That's a question that will divide the fleet on this leg and is probably critical enough to decide the winners and losers.

The blue Luffe 48 Thila did not made it to the start this time and has to take a break for one leg. Skipper Marcus Schiermann took the decision because of electrical problems. He hopes to rejoin the fleet in Copenhagen. The first yachts are expected in Copenhagen on Tuesday night.