Round Baltic race reaches Poland

Andreas Kling reports on the latest from the Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup

It has been a pretty fast trip from Klaipeda, Lithuania to Gdansk, Poland for the fleet of the Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup. The fifth leg of the race was 110 miles long and the sailors could profit from a good breeze. In the middle of the night, race director Alan Green took the first finishing time of Outsider, the Elliott 45 sailed by Admirals Cup winner Tilmar Hansen from Kiel, Germany, who crossed the line after 13 hours sailing. But it was Inschallah VI from Volker Andreae which seems likely to win leg five on corrected time, making them a very hot prospect for an overall win.

Emil Reiseschwein owned by Stefan Hummelt from Buxtehude, Germany finished second followed by the Estonian yacht Ladybird, sailed by Erki Melts from Pärnu. Now the sailors will try to recover and prepare for the next leg, the longest of the regatta, at 260 miles.

The fight is getting closer in the front group. Who will receive the Neptune’s Trophy for the overall winner of the Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup at the final prize giving in Warnemuende? Two legs remain for the crews to give their best.

Volker Andreae and his Inschallah VI crew scored another first to underline their ambitions. ”We decided to go out to the right side, and the weather strategy paid of”, Andreae explained. We had our small Gennaker up for a long time and that gave us another advantage”, he added.

Emil Reiseschwein as well as the small J/109 Brinkmann & Partner are placed ahead of him in the overall results for the moment, but after the leg to Copenhagen, two discards will be included, and then it will look good for the blue yacht from Hamburg. “But I think everything is possible on the leg to Copenhagen and nothing is decided yet”, Andreae said.

The yellow flag for the overall leader is to be passed back to Emil Reiseschwein, which scored a second place in leg five. Brinkmann & Partner is second overall while Harald Graf Saurma-Jeltsch with his Comfortina 42 Meltemi is placed third for the moment.

The Ladybird crew from Estonia could take third place on handicap as skipper Erki Melts from Pärnu said: “The leg was very hard, but we are happy about the result. We will now try to recover, party a bit and go for it tomorrow - we can do even better!”. The Estonian champions have a place on the podium within reach.

12th today was Tutima, winner of leg one. “Despite the result it was wonderful sailing, with the kite up, doing 12 knots, surfing”, said Christoph Krautzik from the DK46 crew.

Tilmar Hansen and his Outsider were first home into Gdansk on elapsed. He raved: “We were doing 13, 14, even 15 knots and it was great fun. Happily we could even leave the 60- and 70-footer behind. But it still is a bit sad, that in corrected time we do not have any chance with this boat, because of the bad rating”, said the Admiral's Cup winner. “But it is very nice to be here in Gdansk and even the approach was very impressing”.

On board the race committee vessel, a special reunion took place. Zyga Perlicki, one of the best known Polish sailors, is acting as Principal Race Officer for the Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup stopover in Gdansk. More than 30 years ago, Race Director Alan Green met him on the first Whitbread Race around the world. Perlicki skippered the Polish entry
Kopernikus when Green was a race officer for the first Round the World Race.

Preliminary results in leg five of the Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup from Klaipeda/Lithuania to Gdansk/Poland:
1. Inschallah (Volker Andreae, Hamburg, Germany)
2. Emil Reiseschwein (Stefan Hummelt/ Buxtehude, Germany)
3. Ladybird (Erki Melts, Pärnu, Estonia)
4. Vanguard (Philipp Lubinus, Kiel, Germany)
5. Hansa* (Dirk Manno, Glücksburg),
6. Josephine (Uwe Lebens, Norderstedt, Germany).

*A protest on Hansa is still running

Overall results after five of seven legs in the Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup 2005, without discards:
1. Emil Reiseschwein 27 points
2. Meltemi (Harald Graf Saurma-Jeltsch/Eckernförde, Germany, 35
3. Brinkmann & Partner (Hans-Jürgen Rieckhoff, Hamburg Germany), 40
4. Inschallah; 43, 5. Schüddelfrost, (Friedrich Böhnert/Hamburg); 43
6. Ladybird, 48.