5.5 Metre Herbstpreis at Thunersee Yachtclub - Overall
by Robert Deaves 9 Oct 2022 17:07 BST
8-9 October 2022
MF XVIII wins Thunersee Yachtclub's Herbstpreis © Robert Deaves /
www.robertdeaves.uk
MF XXII (SUI 232, Jürg Menzi-Schmid, Jürgen Eiermann, Christof Wilke) has won the 2022 5.5 Metre Herbstpreis, at Thunersee Yachtclub, after just one more race was possible on Sunday.
Forza Del Destino (SUI 211, George Prapopoulos, Simon Pfändler, Thomas Huber) won the only race and took second overall while Pungin (SUI 213, Hans-Peter Schmid, Gilbert Dürr, Walter Dürr) took third overall.
After leaving the club at 09.00 the fleet sailed down the lake in a very light northerly before the first race started around 10.30 in 3-4 knots. The wind was still very unstable but strengthened slightly for a good race.
With the fleet splitting, the left side paid halfway up with Skylla IV (SUI 182, Andre Bernheim, Urs Werner, Alex Bernheim) leading up the middle. However, they were just beaten round the top mark by Forza Del Destino on the final shift. And there were a lot of them...
MF XXII rounded mid fleet but sailed a great downwind on the left to round the bottom mark overlapped with Forza Del Destino but on the inside track, so led up the final leg.
On the final beat the shifts again were crucial with Forza Del Destino staying in the middle while MF XXII headed towards the eastern shoreline. When they crossed again Forza Del Destino had a good lead to take the winners gun from MF XXII and Black & White (SUI 219, Daniel Schenker, Mark Dangel, Felix Schneebeli).
By now there was a bit of blue sky showing and within 10 minutes the wind had died to 1-2 knots and soon after, just glass. The race committee waited and waited and were rewarded with a light southerly, but this was very short lived and as the lake returned to glass, the rest of the racing was abandoned and the series was completed with just two races.
The end of the Herbstpreis marks the end of the European season for the class, but it has much to look forward to both next year and in the years after. The 2023 regatta calendar is being prepared now with the highlight being the Scandinavian Gold Cup and World Championship in Porto Cervo in Sardinia.
Flickr gallery of the day at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fivepointfivemetre/albums/72177720302735530
Overall Results: (top five, 2 races, full results here)
1 MF XXII (SUI 232, Jürg Menzi-Schmid, Jürgen Eiermann, Christof Wilke) 3pts
2 Forza Del Destino (SUI 211, George Prapopoulos, Simon Pfändler, Thomas Huber) 5pts
3 Pungin (SUI 213, Hans-Peter Schmid, Gilbert Dürr, Walter Dürr) 8pts
4 Black & White (SUI 219, Daniel Schenker, Mark Dangel, Felix Schneebeli) 8pts
5 Skylla IV (SUI 182, Andre Bernheim, Urs Werner, Alex Bernheim) 8pts