NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cup 2005 - Leg 4 finish

Bumpy road to Klaipeda

Sinfonie Sylt became “First Ship Home” on the way to Klaipeda and wins the leg on calculated time, too. “Brinkmann&Partner” takes overall lead. Stoertebecker makes it to the harbour after suffering a leak.

It was the biggest yacht of the fleet, the 70-footer “Sinfonie Sylt” of Reinhold Riel (Sylt, Germany), that first crossed the finishing line in Klaipeda on Tuesday 13.52 h, after 225 miles from Riga. They had been matching all the way with Tilmar Hansens “Outsider” from Kiel, Germany. When “Santa Maria” came in last at 12.30 h on Wednesday, the results finally showed that Sinfonie Sylt had even won leg four on calculated time.

Even Rimantas Taraskevicius, the Mayor of Klaipeda came to great Riel and his crew. “I have been to Klaipeda, right after the border was opened in 1989 and was the first western yacht in the harbour, many things have changed since”, said Riel, who could not start in the first legs because of repairs.

“It was a long leg with many calm passages and we are very happy that we finished first in the end”, the skipper from Sylt, Germany said. “When we passed the line and the boats behind where becalmed, we counted on a good calculated result, but when the list was displayed today, it was a nice surprise”, said Hilko Marschall of the “Sinfonie” crew.

In the end “Outsider” came in 17 minutes later. “It was a tough fight, we where changing positions all the time, but only one can win”, said Hansen, skipper of “Outsider”.

The overall lead of the NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cup went to “Brinkmann&Partner” after this leg. The small J-109 took over the first position from “Emil Reiseschwein”. Third overall is now Harald Graf von Saurma-Jeltsch with his Comfortina 42 „Meltemi“.

“We wanted to win a leg once, but now we are happy that we lead the fleet”, said Frank Sothmann, Skipper of „Brinkmann&Partner“, who will leave the crew in Klaipeda, where Hans-Jürgen Rieckhoff takes over.

Climbing up the ladder, „Schüddelfrost“, a family crew from Hamburg with their Hanse 371 scored a third in this leg, to find themselves on fourth position overall after four legs.

“Störtebecker” had to suffer a leak and was nearly sinking, but the crew managed to come to the harbour, getting away with a big fright. The classic yacht of Thomas Steiner from Rostock, Germany suddenly took on water, while on its way to Klaipeda. “Below deck the water was up to our hips, the pump was running, but the water came in fast and we could not locate the leak”, Harry Kleist, of the “Störtebecker” crew said. Slowly they made it to the finishing line and where directly towed to the shipyard, to empty the boat. “Everything is wet and destroyed below deck”, said owner Thomas Steiner unhappy. After the repairs they have to decide weather taking part in the following legs.

Overall results of leg 4: (NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cup from Riga/Latvia to Klaipeda/Lithuania)

1. Sinfonie Sylt (Reinhold Riel, Sylt, Germany)
2. Brinkmann & Partner (Bertold Brinkmann/Hamburg, Germany)
3. Schüddelfrost (Friedrich Böhnert/Hamburg, Germany)
4. Sneagle (Thomas Werner, Hanstedt, Germany)
5. Meltemi (Harald Graf Saurma-Jeltsch/Eckernförde, Germany)
6. Gundel G. (Jens Kiessling, Hamburg, Germany)

Results after four of seven legs:

1. Brinkmann & Partner, 19pts
2. Emil Reiseschwein (Stefan Hummelt/ Buxtehude, Germany), 25pts
3. Meltemi, 25pts
4. Schüddelfrost, 27pts
5. Pippifax (Gunter Persiehl, Hamburg, Germany), 39pts
6. Inschallah (Volker Andreae, Hamburg, Germany), 42pts