| Cream of the crop crowned
world champions. |
| By the Rolex Baltic
Week Media Team. |
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Photos by Daniel Forster
for Rolex,
edited By Peter Andrews. |
| July 3, 2011. |
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GLÜCKSBURG, GERMANY. Emphatic performances among both the 12-Metre and 8-Metre fleets determined the 2011 world champions on the final day of the Rolex Baltic Week, which brought the culmination of a tough week of challenging breezes and close racing for the classic yachts on Flensburg Fjord in Northern Germany.
In the Robbe & Berking 12mR World Championships, the Danish 1936-built Vanity V, owned and helmed by Patrick Howaldt from Copenhagen, triumphed after scoring another second and first place on the last day. It was a remarkable regatta for them which saw
them finish no worse than runner-up in any race. |
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Winner of the 12mR World Championship, Patrick Howaldt's Vanity
V. (K 5, 1936) from Copenhagen, Denmark, during the last day of the 2011 Rolex
Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| Two bullets on the final day also secured the victory of the Dutch-based modern Eight Hollandia, owned by Ruud van Hilst and steered by Tim van Rootselaar; while Andreas Krause’s Sleipnir II from Kiel, Germany won the Robbe & Berking 6mR Sterling Cup. Each of the three winning owners was awarded a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer chronometer by Peter Streit, CEO of Rolex Germany. |
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Ruud van Hilst and Jos Fruytier’s team on Hollandia from Amsterdam,
the Netherlands, with a Rolex Oyster Perpetual chronometer presented for
their achievement, during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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Discarding a second place in the 12-Metre results, Patrick Howaldt and his team were clear winners on 10 points after winning four of the eight races, with loud celebrations on board Vanity V as they crossed the final finish line. Vanity V’s skipper was thrown into the Flensburg Fjord by his jubilant crew in celebration of a first ever world title win for both himself and the boat.
"We felt the high pressure on board before the final, but sailed very well again, nearly faultless like the entire regatta," a soaking Howaldt said afterwards. "The Rolex Baltic Week was highly competitive with extraordinary social events. We loved to be here," he added. |
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Andreas Krause’s 6mR Sleipnir II (GER 17, 1935) from Kiel, Germany, winner
of the Robbe & Berking Sterling Cup for the 6mR class, during the
2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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Their nearest rival, the German yacht Trivia, went into the final day in a strong second overall, but two fourths put paid to their chances, finishing six points adrift. Trivia’s owner and helmsman Wilfried Beeck from Hamburg, had nothing but praise for the winning team.
"They deserved the win with an impressive performance," said Beeck. "We need to be happy with the second and we are
indeed because Sphinx came really close at the end." |
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On board Wilfried Beeck’s 12mR Trivia (GER 10, 1937) from Hamburg, Germany,
during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| Sphinx, helmed by Guy Ribadeau, also scored their worst result of the event with a fifth, but remained in third overall. In contrast, the 1928 design Anitra had their best day on the water, with a second and third place to place them in fourth overall. In the Antique division, the 1911 Erna Signe of Einar Sissner (NOR) was the clear winner. |
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Gorm Gondesen and Jochen Frank’s 12mR Sphinx (G 4, 1939) from Flensburg,
Germany which won race 4 and Andreas Wehner’s 12mR Evaine (K 2, 1936)
from Kiefersfelden, Germany, during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| Also racing for their Robbe & Berking World Championships, the 8-Metre yachts witnessed an equally superior performance by Hollandia (NED) who, having been pushed hard by Lafayette (GBR) and YQuem II (SUI) all week, secured the title emphatically with two wins in the final day’s two races. Able to discard a disqualification (DSQ) for an infringement earlier in the week, Ruud van Hilst and Jos Fruytier’s 2005-built 8-Metre won five of the nine races to take first overall. |
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Josef Martin’s 12mR Anitrta (US 5, 1928) from Radolfzell, Germany,
crossing Patrick Howaldt’s 12mR Vanity V (K 5, 1936) from Copenhagen,
Denmark, during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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"To finish a world championship with two bullets is really fantastic," said co-owner Ruud van Hilst. "It was great racing on the Inner Fjord and the entire event was very well organised, both on the water and on shore. The people are very friendly here, which we knew before."
For Hollandia, Flensburg was the scene of a previous triumph, when they won the 8-Metre European Championship in 2006, and
this also signifies her second world title win, having claimed the number one spot in Canada in 2005.
Murdoch McKillop’s Lafayette scored a second and third to secure the runner-up position, while Jean Fabre’s
YQuem II pushed a little too hard in the final contest and scored an OCS which left them in third overall. |
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Werner-Heinz Schifferl’s 8mR Bera (AUT 12, 1922) from
Hörbranz, Austria) and Hans Peter Strepp’s 8mR Feo (E 3, 1927)
from Heikendorf, Germany, during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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The Canadian 8-Metre Raven, built in 1938, continued her consistent run of fourths. There was also a high point for HM King Harald V of Norway on Sira, who took his first podium position with a third in the final race. These two yachts were also the leading competitors for the prestigious Sira Cup, with Richard Self and Mark Decelles’ Raven taking the title, ahead of the eponymous royal competitor and Fred Meyer’s Swiss Catina VI.
"The boat was perfectly prepared and we trained for a week on Flensburg Fjord," said Reinhard Brucker, the German bowman
on board Raven. "We built the success on this and defended the Sira Cup we won last year in Toronto." |
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HM King Harald V of Norway receiving a silver cup for 2nd place in
the Sira class by FSC chairman Jochen Frank, during the 2011 Rolex
Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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"It was a great regatta and we are happy with the outcome," said HM King Harald V of Norway. "Raven was unbeatable this time, the boat was very fast and they sailed well. Maybe we should have trained here too for a week prior the regatta, we had only one day’s preparation."
Among the other 8-Metre divisions competing for their own prize, Hollandia was also crowned first Modern boat. Richard Gervé’s 1912 Sposa from Germany won the First Rule fleet, while Catina VI, belonging to the president of the International Eight Metre Association IEMA, Swiss Fred Meyer, triumphed among the Neptune class. |
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HM King Harald V of Norway’s 8mR Sira (NOR 33, 1938) from Oslo, Norway
was second in the Sira Cup, during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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| Racing for the all German Robbe & Berking 6mR Sterling Cup concluded with Andreas Krause’s Sleipnir II taking a clear win, in fact the crew, skippered by Christoph Nielsen, won the event with a race to spare and were able to return to shore early having secured the trophy. The final race win and second overall went to Dr Thomas Kuhman’s Mena, with Aida (Bjoern Storsberg) finishing third overall. |
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Richard Self and Mark Decelles’ 8mR Raven (CAN 25, 1938) from Vancouver,
Canada; and Alexey Rusetsky’s 8mR Astra II (RUS 4, 2007) from St.
Petersburg, Russia, during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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2011 Rolex Baltic Week Final overall rankings
Robbe & Berking 12-Metre World Championship (after 8
races)
1 Vanity V, Patrick Howaldt (Denmark), 1-1-(2)-2-1-2-2-1, 10.
2 Trivia, Wilfried Beeck (Germany), 3-2-1-3-2-1-(4)-4, 16.
3 Sphinx, Gorm Gondesen/Jochen Frank (Germany), 2-3-4-1-4-3-1-(5), 18.
4 Anitra, Josef Martin (Germany), 4-4-3-(4)-3-4-3-2, 23.
5 Evaine, Georg Kierspel (Germany), 5-6-6-(DNF)-5-6-5-3, 36.
6 Vema III, Eric Svenkerud (Norway), 6-5-5-(DNF)-6-5-6-6, 39. |
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Magne Brekke’s 8mR Wanda (N 38, 1937) from Snaroya, Norway, during the
2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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Robbe & Berking
8-Metre World Championship (after 9 races)
1 Hollandia, Ruud van Hilst/Jos Fruytier (The Netherlands), 1-1-(DSQ)-2-2-1-2-1-1,
11.
2 Lafayette, Murdoch McKillop (Great Britain), 2-(4)-1-1-1-3-3-3-2,
16.
3 YQuem II, Jean Fabre (Switzerland), 3-2-3-3-3-2-1-2-(DSQ), 19.
4 Raven, Richard Self/Mark Decelles (Canada), 5-3-2-4-4-(8)-4-4-4, 30.
5 Sira, King Harald V of Norway, 8-(DNF)-4-12-7-5-7-5-3, 51.
6 Catina VI, Fred Meyer (Switzerland), 7-7-8-6-10-9-8-7-(12), 62.
7 Anne-Sophie, Hanns-Georg Klein (Germany), 6-8-10-(13)-8-12-11-6-5,
66. |
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Skipsrederiet Vema III AS and Eric Svenkerud’s 12mR Vema III (N 11, 1933)
from Oslo, Norway and Framnes AS’ 12mR Magda VIII (E 4, 1908) from Sandefjord,
Norway helmed by Lasse Lund, during the 2011 Rolex Baltic Week.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
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Robbe & Berking
6mR Sterling Cup (after 5 races)
1 Sleipnir II, Andreas Krause (Germany), 1-2-1-1-(DNS), 5.
2 Mena, Thomas Kuhmann (Germany), 3-1-(4)-3-1, 8.
3 Aida, Björn Storsberg (Germany), 2-4-2-2-(DNS), 10.
For more information about the Rolex Baltic Week, visit the event website at www.rolex-baltic-week.com. |
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| Outimage and Rolex © 2011 |
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