International Canoe Europa Cup at Deutsch-Britischer Yacht Club - Day 2
by Chris Hampe 25 Jul 2018 10:04 BST
23-27 July 2018
With the morning bringing a flat calm across the river Havel in front of the Deutsch Britishcher Yacht Club the discussions at breakfast was whether there would be any racing held at all.
The race official set an initial two-hour postponement and with no changes in conditions, this was extended first by another two hours and finally by an additional hour.
At 3pm there was some trace of a breeze from the northeast so the fleet was sent afloat with the aim of getting a race start at 4 PM, With limited time the race officer set a windward leeward course. The first race became a drag race to the left-hand side with boats simultaneously tacking as the header came in suddenly as the boats approached the Kladow shoreline. At the Windward mark, it was Robin Wood who had a narrow lead over Axel Bierwagen with Christopher Ossenkopp leading the ICOD fleet and mixing it with the newer boats of Robbert Stebbing and Simon Beers.
Down the run finding the lanes of pressure was essential, Robin Wood pulled clear ahead and Chris Hampe managed to pass Axel at the bottom gate with the chasing pack led by Shaun Anderson closing in with the fresher breeze coming down the course. The first tack after the rounding proved disastrous for Axel whose Main halyard failed, He would be able to make an effective repair on the water but fell a lap behind. The three Brits, Robin Wood, Chris Hampe and Shaun Anderson would now be unchallenged for the podium positions.
Race 2 started shortly after 6 PM and with a bit of a pile-up on the line, Robin Wood was able to escape and soon had a large lead over Chris Hampe who was pulling ahead of the chasing pack. Christopher Ossenkopp third mastering the conditions in his ICOD a position he was able to maintain to the finish as the breeze started to fade. With a light final run, Chris Hampe was rapidly closing up on Robin Wood to set up a spectacular finish to the days racing.
As the pair reached the downwind gate the gap had closed right up from around 200 meters. Robin took the port rounding to head toward the eastern shoreline and Chris who rounded just seconds later opted to split away around the other mark. At the first cross, Chris was ahead and covered tacked perfectly to cover the left-hand side. The next cross was in sight of the finish and a bad tack from Hampe allowed Robin to get slightly bow forward as the two boats locked horns, both in sight of the finish. With one further tack from each boat, Robin now had the advantage and secured his fifth race win of the series.
www.intcanoe.org/en/2018europa.php
Standings after day 2 (1 discard):
1st Robin Wood, 4pts (Maas)
2nd Shaun Anderson, 10pts (Morrison 1)
3rd Chris Hampe, 11pts (Morrison 3)
4th Axel Bierwagen, 14 pts (Morrison 2)
5th Simon Beers, 18 pts (Maas)
6th Roger Regitz, 26pts (Maas)
7th Jan Stahl, 29 pts (Stahl)
8th Eckhardt Pagel, 35pts (ICOD)
9th Alisdair Alston, 36pts (ICOD
10th Christopher Ossenkopp, 37pts (ICOD)
11th Anette Steimann, 38pts (Maas)
12th Fynn Beers, 43pts (ICOD)
13th Emma Grigull, 43pts (ICOD)
14th Robbert Stebbing, 44pts (Maas)