Inschallah VI takes Baltic Sprint Cup 2006

In a convincing display of offshore racing Hamburg owner/skipper Volker Andrae and the crew of the 41ft Inschallah carried off the second Baltic Sprint Cup at the final prizegiving in Warnemunde, Germany. Beating the fleet of 30 yachts in the four-race series was not easy.

Final race in Copenhagen
A strong race-oriented group included the 85ft LOA Uca, Dr Claus Murmann designed, as Inschalla by the German gurus Judel/Vrolijk, NV Hamburg, Tilmar Hansen's 45ft Outsider (designer Greg Elliot), Thomas Nielsen's very quick new Dufour 40R Chaos Quarante, and Stefen Hummel's X442 Emil Reiseschwein. The final race of the 4-race offshore series started in Copenhagen, home of port sponsor Bank DnB NORD and CEO Sven Herlyn who not only inspired the regatta but also led the crew of the Swan 48 Jet in the event. Weather conditions since the feeder events to the first port of Stavanger, Norway, had been pretty varied: on every one of the last three legs and light winds dominated as the Race Committee set shorter courses as the forecasts saw light variable winds persisting.

Rain storm and high local winds
The final leg was set at 180 miles in the south west Baltic and despite some calms a front crossing the race area enlivened the wind field allowing Outsider, NV Hamburg and others the pleasure of a 10-knot-plus charge across the finish line at the port entrance in a rain storm with high local winds. Class winners for leg 4 were Class A Uca and Class B Chaos Quarante. Overall winner of the Baltic Sprint Cup 2005 and 2006 combined is Stefan Hummelt's Emil Reiseschwein - picking up the new trophy presented by the Baltic Sprint Cup Committee. A new Baltic Sprint Cup is planned for the Baltic sea proper in July 2007 most likely starting with a feeder at the end of Warnemunde Woche on 14th July and including the Baltic States. A return to Skagerrak waters is likely in 2008.

Impressions by Robin Oberst, skipper from Bernadette:
"The final evening saw wining, dining, dancing and fireworks all creating an atmosphere of great camaraderie amongst the crews and across the fleet. DnB NORD had truly international crews with seven nationalities represented. We all learned an awful lot and I'm not just talking about sailing, about each other, about communication and a little about ourselves. I now know at least a dozen people who I know won't let me down in a crisis and I hope they feel the same. This what teambuilding is all about."


Baltic Sprint Cup 2006 Final Standings

Team Nation Pts OA

1. INSCHALLAH VI (GER) 10


2. EMIL REISESCHWEIN (GER) 16


3. JOSEPHINE (GER) 21


4. UCA (GER) 26


5. GUNVØR XL (CAN) 32


6. NV HAMBURG (GER) 32


7. CHAOS QUARANTE (GER) 39

Source: www.baltic-sprint-cup.com

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