Michael P. from Altgalendorf in Ostholstein wanted to go one-handed from Varberg in Sweden to Copenhagen - but he never got there. With his Vision 32 "Sinus" in the Kattegat he got into extremely difficult weather.
Northern winds at 7, by strokes 8, heavy shower squalls and thunderstorms - this was the forecast by the Hamburg Sea Weather Office for Monday last week. For this purpose, swell between 1.5 and 3 meters was forecast. In fact, in the afternoon of that day it was even stronger, and by Tuesday noon 10 to 11 Beaufort were registered in the Kattegat.
The 58-year-old was considered a very experienced single-handed sailor. Her husband has been sailing solo for 22 years, his wife explained that he was “absolutely familiar” with the 9.70 meter long Nissen design, which he had optimized for solo sailing with every conceivable arrangement. With the yacht, based in Heiligenhafen, P. had wanted to pick up his wife on Tuesday in Copenhagen for a vacation trip.
The wrecked ship was already abandoned and destroyed that Tuesday, stranded in Högenäs, Sweden. Its mast was broken, a want had turned around the screw.
Right from the start, given the weather conditions, there was little hope of being able to find and rescue the skipper. A German sailor discovered the lifeless body near Humlebæk on Øresund, south of Helsingør / Denmark. There is still no information about the cause and course of the accident. The Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation is trying to reconstruct what happened on the basis of the traces.