Starting Shot For The YACHT Reader Crew

90 crews want to start at the second HelgCup in June 2019, and four of these 360 (!) Sailors will start for the YACHT. In a team of readers who responded to our call to apply for this crew.

Even when the winning crew sailed to the finish in the final race of the women's regatta premiere in June 2018 to huge applause - an unexpected goose bumps moment - it was clear: In the coming year, a YACHT team should not be missing at the starting line of the HelgCup.

It should ideally consist of four female sailors with very different sailing experiences, in order to be able to accompany the women on the exciting way to become a regatta crew (ideally a successful regatta crew). Definitely an experiment, just like the HelgCup was a few months ago.

Not an easy choice

Applications from all over Germany, sometimes written with passion and well-known regatta participations in the Vita, were received in the editorial mailbox. Really not an easy choice that also raised questions. How does the dinghy sailor with years of regatta experience fit in with the big ship cruiser? In the end, what will be more important, the nautical miles that have been collected so far or the kilometers that separate the sailors' homes from each other - and do not exactly simplify joint training?

Ultimately, the most convincing were Leonie Drechsler, KatjKarrenbauer, AnetNowobilsk and Christine "Tine" Schade - four enthusiastic sailors with the ambitious goal of becoming a regatta crew in a short time and as many of the 89 other teams behind their own as possible in just over half a year Read crewn names on the results list.

Photo gallery: The YACHT reader crew

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First on the water

What would be better for getting to know the crew than a first training session on the J / 70? Little, so off to the water on a Friday afternoon at the end of October. Drizzle hangs in the air, the temperature is almost in the single digits, and gusts of 25 knots pull over the Alster. The team is excited. How do they all fit together? Does it even fit, or will there be stress right from the first maneuver?

The opposite is the case, and under the guidance of trainer Christine Siedle, six legs quickly find their way to the edge, while Tine steers the J / 70 to the first bin. She used to sail Europe regattas for years and the steering gene is clearly still there - the position at the tiller already seems to be occupied.

Admittedly, there is still chaos in front of the Traveler. Who trims the jib, who later the gennaker, who dare to take on the position of the tactician, and how the hell should the six legs be forced out from under the railing as quickly as possible in the turn - and without causing major injuries to themselves and the concubine - and immediately be thrown outboard again on the new windward side?

Later everything will be like a choreography, recorded and automatic, encourages trainer Christine. We laugh, swap positions again and again and postpone the decision on who will fill which, to the first real training together, if crew member Anetaus Berlin can also be there. That it will be very soon, no matter how gray, cold and wet it is on the Alster, is already certain before we maneuver the training boat with the appropriate name "Helga" back into the box.

What's next?

There is a lot to do before the go-ahead in June 2019, that's for sure. Create the training plan, learn regatta rules, find a creative Crewn name, order the team clothing and finally train, train, train; the to-do list is long, so is winter - we will report!

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