NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cup 2005 - Leg 6 finish

Tutima wins leg six

Inschallah VI favourite for overall victory

A second place in leg six of the NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cup lifts “Inschallah VI” to the best position for the overall victory, just before the last and decisive leg is started on Thursday. The Baltic race which started on July 9th in Sandhamn, Sweden will end this Friday in Warnemuende, Germany. Leg number six from Gdansk, Poland to Copenhagen, Denmark was won by „Tutima“ (Tom Ebert, Frankfurt, Germany), followed by „Inschallah VI“ (Volker Andreae, Hamburg, Germany) and „Meltemi“ (Harald Graf von Saurma-Jeltsch, Eckernfoerde, Germany).

It was a very common sight, that race director Alan Green spotted on the horizon. “Outsider” the Elliott 45 by Tilmar Hansen (Kiel, Germany) came to the finish line first, winning the “First Ship Home” flag again in Copenhagen. But Thomas Ebert with his DK 46 “Tutima” followed only minutes later. And the dark grey “Tutima” was fast enough to win the leg on corrected time. “It was a good race, and we are really happy about the result”, said Tom Ebert after their arrival. “But we have nearly been catching up with “Outsider”, too. They started sweating already, because we where really close all the time and in the end we came in less than 20 minutes later”, Ebert added.

Volker Andreae, owner and skipper of the one off “Inschallah VI” presented himself happy and relaxed, too. The crew of nine from Hamburg could score a second in leg six and proceeds on their way to the overall victory, although the last leg will be the decisive one, as it cannot be discarded. The official results do only count discards after leg seven, but internal counting shows them in the lead.

“The race was very thrilling; we have been matching with “Hansa” and “World of Tui” all the time. And up to the finish, we have been very close”, said Andreae. Constantly in the front row sails Stefan Hummelt, Buxtehude, Germany with his X-442 “Emil Reiseschwein”. They scored a fourth place in this leg and continue to fly the yellow flag for the leading yacht in the official results list without discards. In the fight for the “Neptune’s” Trophy of the NORDLB Baltic Sprint Cup they will be a hot candidate too.

The red yacht “Ladybird” from Pärnu, Estonia continues to produce very good results and is keen on climbing the podium as well. “We have made some mistakes on our way to Copenhagen, but the leg was good to sail, not as cold as the last one and pretty easy”, said Erki Melts, skipper of the Estonian Acton 395. “We want to attack again in the last race on Thursday”, he said.

Preliminary Results leg six of the NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cups from Gdansk/Poland to Copenhagen, Denmark:

1. Tutima (Thomas Ebert, Frankfurt, Germany)
2. Inschallah (Volker Andreae, Hamburg, Germany)
3. Meltemi (Harald Graf Saurma-Jeltsch/Eckernförde, Germany)
4. Emil Reiseschwein (Stefan Hummelt/ Buxtehude, Germany)
5. Ladybird (Erki Melts, Pärnu, Estonia)
6. Mamelie (Jakob Hinrich Leverkus, Hamburg, Germany)

Preliminary results after six of seven legs of the NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cups 2005, without discard:

1. Emil Reiseschwein, 31pts
2. Meltemi, 37pts
3. Inschallah, 45pts
4. Ladybird, 53pts
5. Tutima, 57pts
5. Schüddelfrost, 57pts