Fun & Frolic @ Vaterchen Frost Regatta For J/22s, J/24s, J/70s

(Hamburg, Germany)- The Hamburg Segel Club hosted what was essentially a "J/Fest" on Hamburg's famous, gorgeous, picturesque Alster Lake along their downtown waterfront. Dozens of J/Teams participated in the event for the two-day weekend regatta in what can only be described as a benign, sybaritic atmosphere.

J/70 Class
A dozen teams showed up for a weekend of fun in downtown Hamburg. In the end, it was Till Kruger's team of Fritz Burckschat, Albert Gerstmair, and Henrike Germar that smoked the fleet for four bullets, two-thirds, and a toss 6th for 10 pts. net. Taking the silver medal was Oomke Moller's crew of Tanja Raven-Sturken, Michaela Powilleit, and Katrin Moller who won a tiebreaker at 18 pts net each. Taking the bronze and losing that countback was Aike Braje's crew of Pippa Sorensen, Siri Segger, and Max Steeger. Rounding out the top five was Stefan Meier in 4th place and Johannes Machur in 5th place.

J/24 Class
With thirteen teams sailing the classic J/24s, always a strong fleet in Germany, there was no question the competition would be spirited and very tough. In the end, it was Lynn Wolgast's team of Svea Wrede, Jette Lyssewski, Lena Harder, and Mattero Wolgast that posted a steady 1-2-3-1-3-6-2 for 12 pts net to eke out a 3 pt victory. Uber tough J/24 experienced veterans were their nemesis that ended up in second place after a slow start. Manfred Konig's crew of Nils Glockow, Roland Boehm, Tina Luelfing, and Jan Eike Schulz managed a 6-4-2-3-2-3-1 tally for 15 pts net to take the silver medal. Third was another all-star team of German J/24 sailors- Fritz Meyer and his crew of Thorsten Paech, Jannik Duhren, Jonas Lyssewski, and Moritz Book. What was wild about the results of the J/24 class is that a perennial champion of the class ended up fourth- Stefan Karsunke, and in fifth place was Rolf Stupperich.

J/22 Class
The ten-boat J/22 class saw a very spirited competition amongst the top three teams. In the end, the top three boats were separated by just six points after seven races. The ultimate outcome was, literally, determined by the last race. Winning was Hardy Kleinefeld's crew of Dirk Glanzmann and Christian Raschke with a remarkable tally of 3-2-1-2-2-1-1 for 9 pts net. However, leading the regatta quite easily on the first day was Thorsten Spotter's team of Hannes Rnake and Florian Buchs with a 1-1-3-3. Sadly, they stumbled on the final day with a 1-4-4 to end up in the silver medal step with 13 pts net. Taking the final step on the podium was Lasse Paland's crew of Lars Christiansen, and Ben Zimmerman with another very consistent scoreline of 2-6-5-1-3-2-2 for 15 pts net.