29er Eurocup at Kiel Week
by Dave Hall, Ovington Boats 27 Jun 2005 17:23 BST
The second round of the 2005 29er Eurocup took place in Germany at the huge Kiel Week regatta. It was the first time the 29ers had a start at the regatta so it was a new experience for organisers and competitors alike.
A healthy fleet of 35 boats from 6 countries took to the water, this was very encouraging especially since many teams were either in the middle of exams or their boats were on their way to the worlds in San Francisco.
The forecast was for light winds and it was right. 4 races a day were scheduled but on the first day only 2 were held, on the second day there was no racing at all. Day three was encouraging and in the light winds the fleet managed 5 races. The final day brought a little more air and with it the threat of thunderstorms 3 races were held before the fleet was sent home.
Even in the light winds the racing was intense with some young teams showing what they have to offer in the future. In the end it was the German team of Benjamin Friedhoff and Johanna Munding (GER1031) who after a shaky first day went on win in fine style with five firsts. Dave Hall and Jessica Smith (GBR777) were their only real threat but didn’t have the consistency of the local pair. The Danish team of Christian Sogaard and Frederik Stage (DEN943) showed bursts of speed but were let down by one too many bad results to keep them in third. The brother and sister team of Max and Rebecca Lutz (GER953) liked the light winds and put in a steady performance to come in fourth.
A superbly ran regatta with a total of 10 races – pretty good when many fleets only achieved a few.
Overall Results:
1st GER 1031 Benjamin Friedhoff & Johanna Munding
2nd GBR 777 David Hall & Jessica Smith
3rd DEN 943 Christian Sorgaard & Frederik Stage
4th GER 953 Max Lutz & Rebecca Lutz
5th DEN 370 Henrik Sorgaard & SÃren Kristensen
6th GER 955 Paul Niklas Jepsen & Emil Bojsen-Moller