Gdansk bound

Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup sets sail from Lithuania

The predicted winds for leg 5 of the Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup 2005 promise a fast ride from Klaipeda, Lithuania to Gdansk, Poland. And the fight for the overall winner’s trophy 'Neptune' is getting ever hotter. Klaipedas habitants gave a great farewell to the sailors on Friday (22 July) after a wet but fantastic stopover.

The sky was grey and cloudy when the Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup fleet took off for the fifth leg to Gdansk, Poland on Friday afternoon. But a good breeze of force three to four from the northeast pushed the 42 yachts away on their 110 nautical mile course.

It was Christian Howaldt's First 36.7 Marie from Felde, Germany that started best from the pin end of the line in class C. But the smaller J'109 Brinkmann & Partner came up with a lot of speed from behind and rounded the windward mark in second position. The crew under skipper Hans-Jürgen Rieckhoff from Schwerin, Germany has to defend their overall lead.

All yachts started with a lot of power in good wind conditions and even the heavy
schooner Mistral from Flensburg, Germany rushed over the line with speed to start the leg to Poland.

In the second start for class B, it was the crew of Pippifax that started first of all yachts. “We have to score some points in the next leg”, said Star sailor Michael Koch, who is racing with Gunter Persiehl, the president of the organising Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV, Hamburg, Germany). The Pippifax team have scored good results with their Bavaria 42 Match, but no first so far.

The X-442 Emil Reiseschwein was first to round the windward mark in class B, followed by the Comfortina 42 Meltemi and Pippifax, before the spinnakers where set and the yachts set off to Gdansk. “Our ambition is even stronger now, after we had to give the yellow tricot away”, said Stefan Hummelt, German owner of Emil Reiseschwein. The big yellow flag given to the temporary overall leader, has been flown on the forestay of the X-442 for three legs. But in Klaipeda the honour was taken over by Brinkmann & Partner.
In class A for the fastest yachts, Volker Andreae with his one-off Inschallah VI got away first at the start and was second behind the X-612 World of TUI Hamburg of Heiko Preuss at the first mark.

The crews had experienced a very big program in Klaipeda during the stopover . The fleet was given a great farewell with hundreds of spectators at the pier and a brass band playing. The prime minister of Lithuania, Algirdas Brazauskas even took a break from his holidays to visit the fleet and wish them a good trip to Poland. The stopover in Klaipeda offered a lot of communication between the sailors and the public while the fleet was very well cared for. “The welcome here in Klaipeda was extraordinary and we hope to come back soon”, said Hans-Jürgen Rieckhoff, skipper of Brinkmann & Partner.

The fifth leg of the Nord/LB Baltic Sprint Cup is sailed by 42 boats. Rostock-based Stoertebecker suffered a leakage on Wednesday and had to withdraw, while the Latvian yacht Anita left the race after sailed she from and to her hometown of Riga as a wildcard starter.

Weather expert Meeno Schrader predicted good to strong winds from the northeast, shifting southwest for this leg. The fleet may be arriving in the night or morning of Saturday (23 July) in Gdansk.