The invitation to tender for the Baltic Sprint Cup in July 2008 - like over a dozen advance registrations - is ready. In addition, the 49er class will present its sponsor and plans for the German championship next year in October on the Alster in Hamburg. Setting: The celebrations for the Day of German Unity on October 3rd. The city on the Elbe is the host.
The completed tender is on the table in black and white. The Baltic Sprint Cup, which now looks back on its own little tradition, will start on July 19th in Travemünde. Setting: The Travemünder Woche number 119. From there it goes in four stages across the Baltic Sea, general course east. "The maintenance of pan-Baltic relations was originally the idea," says the official press release. In this sense, it is no wonder that the organizers have included the "SeFestival" in Klaipeda / Lithuania in the route plan. "We were enthusiastically received in every port," says an old friend. Who is the "old friend"? Henning Rocholl from Hamburg, who organizes the Baltic Sprint Cup through FirmSail & Race. Co-owner of this company: The honorable Briton Alan Green from London, longtime racing manager of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and race director of countless regattas. The participants of the DCNAC 2003 as well as the sailors at the HSH Nordbank Blue Race Greens know the sonorous radio voice.
As already announced, the organizer Rocholl has "treats" ready for early registrants this year as well. With the tender, a sophisticated discount system was published, after which early interest in submitting the report is rewarded, the overall package then sometimes costs less. It is also possible to register only for individual stages, the flat rate will then of course decrease, but not proportionally. Young people under the age of 14 get a 50 percent discount and for yachts from certain (Eastern) countries there is support from the general sponsor of the Baltic Sprint Cup, Bank DnB Nord, based in Copenhagen.
In addition, the company "SE Spezial" of sailor Christopher Wuttke is the "start-up sponsor" for the port of Travemünde. Wuttke is the skipper of the well-known DK 46 "Guts'n'Glory", which is one of the few (twelve) yachts at the Rolex Middle SeRace that has even made it to the finish in Malta's capital Valletta after 607 nautical miles. And of course Wuttke's white and red yacht is one of the first to show interest in the cup. Just like the Elliott 52 "Outsider" by Tilmar Hansen from Kiel, which came second after the calculated time in the HSH Nordbank Blue Race from Newport / US to Cuxhaven in the summer.
The determination of the calculated time is a novelty of the fourth Baltic Sprint Cup - at least for some of the yachts. For the first time, the racers will be rated according to the internationally popular measurement system IRC. As usual, the cruiser-racers continue to use the IMS-related ORC Club system.
Much new was also revealed by the voluntary organization around the class leader of the Olympic 49ers, Heiko Thölmann. Not only was there a panel discussion yesterday on "Who will get the ticket for the Olympics" on the stage of the hanseboot dinghy center and the two contesting teams for the Olympics ticket to China, including Marcus Baur and Jan-Peter Peckolt, were invited. Because Gunther Persiehl, commodore of the North German Regatta Club (NRV) and Frank Deckert, head of marketing and sales at the watch manufacturer Seiko, discussed the question of proper funding and preparation. For the German Championship 2008, it was presented, the latter is already in full swing. Seiko is on board as sponsor of the championship and as sponsor of the class. The same goes for Senator AlexandrDinges-Dierig (CDU) from Hamburg, who traveled to the Masters YACHT championship last weekend. She is campaigning for the event, which takes place as part of the celebrations for the Day of German Unity in Hamburg and probably on the Alster.