When Ascension Day turns into a heavenly gift for regatta sailors: The organizers and participants were very happy when the go-ahead for the two-hand Baltic Sea RegattBaltic 500 came this morning directly from the Kiel Ministry of the Interior. The responsible project manager Eckhard Jacobs ("Zukunftsplan Sportland Schleswig-Holstein") approved the application for the organization of the long haul, submitted last week by the chairman of the Yacht Club Strande, Bernd Schütze, in an unbureaucratic manner after consultation with the ministry. "This is an incredibly important sign," says initiator and regatta director Cord Hall, whose committed organizational team has tirelessly put into developing an infection protection concept and many other necessary special measures in times of the corona pandemic.
The superbly sailing "Mex" crew at the start of the Baltic 500's premiere last year
The Baltic 500 organization team from the Yacht Club Strande at the premiere in 2019. Most of them are back again even under difficult conditions in times of the corona pandemic. Different than usual, but not with less passion …
The 500-nautical-mile regatt for two-hand crews may take place without meetings, the joint dinner and the award ceremony. With a reduced team and in compliance with all relevant requirements, the organizers are more than confident of being able to offer their participants an invigorating new start in the regatta scene. Even if security checks can only be carried out randomly, a lot of things will be done with minimal effort, international teams may not be admitted due to the two-week quarantine obligation after entry and the course may be a little shorter than the name of the regatta promises due to international restrictions: The joy of a piece of regained sailing luck in difficult times is enormous.
After the uncertainties of the last few weeks, almost 47 participants were still on the list on Monday lunchtime - a clear commitment by the regatta sailors to their still young German Baltic Sea rally. Some rejections may still come. But the size of the fleet is much less important to most this year than its location. “Due to the constantly changing fundamentals, we were only able to react and plan at two-week intervals. That we all got the regatta off the ground at these times seems important to us,”says Cord Hall, whose organizational partner Rasmus Töpsch is expected to start the race with Andreas Deubel and his new Dehler 30 this year. LinRixgens and Sverre Reinke also want to be there on the Wevo 6.50 Mini “Whomper”. For Rixgens, the Baltic 500 marks the first regatt with its Mini in a new look.
LinRixgens and Sverre Reinke are looking forward to participating in the 2nd edition of the Baltic 500
As in 2019, the participating boats will arrive at the ports in Schilksee and Strande on Ascension Day, if they do not have their berth there anyway. The regatta office in the Yacht Club Strande is operated by only one team member at a time. Only one participant is allowed in the office to register and hand over the documents. And on the starting ship as well as on the support boats, only two people are allowed to be at the same time. If there were a special medal for extraordinary commitment, the young race director Jan Czekal would have a good chance of getting it this year. The 18-year-old, who now operates with a national license, had already managed the Baltic 500 premiere last year with confidence. This year he does it again, although he is stuck between the written and oral Abitur and celebrates his birthday on the start day of the regatt. On the same day as his mother Britta.
The Baltic 500 premiere fleet shortly after take-off
