A showdown to the finish sprint is looming among the remaining yachts on the South Atlantic. After Tilmar Hansen's "Outsider" was the first German yacht to reach Grenader on Saturday, numerous other German teams followed on the weekend. Mathias Müller von Blumencron's Class 40 "Red" was the second German yacht to reach Grenada, closely followed by the SKWB's training yacht "Bank von Bremen".
After 15 days, 17 hours, 25 minutes and 25 seconds, the four-man "Red" crew prevailed in the German-German duel against the Class 40 "MarieJo" from Berthold and Tobias Brinkmann. Father and son Brinkmann, who immediately sailed their highly complex "MarieJo" in the top group without any significant training, reached Grenadr around nine hours after the "Red".
"MarieJo" navigator Robin Zinkmann said after the race: "I didn't expect this Atlantic race to be so varied. We encountered new situations every day. The match against the 'Red' motivated us to do our best. A great race!"
Berthold and Tobias Brinkmann are among the four father-son teams that have a great chance of winning the "Father Son Trophy" initiated by the RORC. In addition to the two, Friedrich Böhnert and his son Arno are on the "Lunatix", while Bene and Björn Woge are sailing on the "Broader View Hamburg". The "Latona" by J. W. von Eicken conquers the Atlantic in three generations.
"MarieJo" was followed 59 minutes later by the HVS yacht "HaspHamburg", led by the youngest skipper of the fleet, 20-year-old Max Gaertner.
Battle for the crown on IRC 1
While some are already celebrating, the race is now entering the decisive phase for others. The crews of "Broader View Hamburg" (Andrews 56), "Lunatix" (Xp-55) and "Latona" (Swan 56R) are ranked 1, 2 and 3 in rating group IRC 1 as they did on Friday HVS yacht "Broader View Hamburg" still has 27 nautical miles ahead of the bow and will reach Grenadin in the next three to four hours at a current speed of seven knots. "Broader View Hamburg" is clearly ahead of "Lunatix" and "Latona". A look at the weather map reveals, however, that this race is far from over after the calculated time: The slower measured teams "Latona" and "Lunatix" expect freshening winds in the next 36 hours.
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