NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cup 2005 - Leg 4 start
by Andreas Kling 18 Jul 2005 14:47 BST
The fleet left Riga with spinnakers up
Hundreds of colourful flags hoisted at the forestays jittered in the Southwesterly breeze when the 45 participating yachts of the NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cup went out for the parade of sails in the harbour of Riga and up the river Daugava. And quite a number of spectators lined up to wave the
fleet a warm farewell.
Out in the Bay of Riga the wind picked up to three Beaufort and showed perfect conditions for the 225 nautical mile leg to Klaipeda, Lithuania. The crew of “Emil Reiseschwein”, owned by Stefan Hummelt of Buxtehude, Germany fixed their propeller problem and will now have to defend their overall lead in this fourth leg with the old regular handicap rating. But Volker Andreaes “Inschallah VI”, the overall winner of last leg, as well as the J-109 “Brinkmann & Partner” (both from Hamburg) were hot on their heels.
Even some spectator boats went out to say goodbye. The sailors where all excited about the good breeze and appreciated the friendly farewell for the second longest leg of the NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cup. All three classes had a clear start and saw the favourites in front. “Pippifax” sailed by NRV chairman Gunter Persiehl (also from Hamburg), who took some of the German Olympic candidates onboard for this leg. And it was Starboat sailor Michael Koch at the helm, who pushed “Pippifax” over the line first.
Those boats went out to the left where favoured after benefiting from a wind shift. But it was just a two mile upwind beat to the windward mark where all crews quickly hoisted their colourful downwind sails and were accelerating fast. The way out of the Bay of Riga leads the yachts for about a hundred miles to the Northwest, before turning South to finally find Klaipeda on the
bow. If the wind continues to blow from the Southwest, that will be a quick journey before the tacking starts. But the weather forecast promises shifting winds, varying very much in strength too. Long and challenging hours are laying ahead for the crews.
The first yachts of the fleet are expected to arrive in Klaipeda around Tuesday night.