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Bob Baier defends 2011 international German championship title in A-Cat sailingat the Ammersee
From Friday, October 7 to Sunday, October 9, 2011, the International German Rankings Competition for A-Cat sailors took place at the Ammersee. The competition was organized by the TSV Utting club, and was sponsored by the company ‘Schröter Modell- und Formenbau‘. The event drew an international field of top-notch A-Cat sailors to Utting on the lake Ammersee. Along with a large field of German sailors, the club also welcomed guests from England, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Austria. The TSV Utting club was a very competent host for the sporting event – showing great professionalism in organizing the races, and its members showed extraordinary motivation as a support team.
The regatta weekend was marked by both fluctuating temperatures and fluctuating wind conditions – a genuine challenge for everyone involved. A total of 6 races were held over three days of competition. Temperatures briefly dropped to about 3 degrees Celsius. The very first race on Friday was met by a storm squall with hail, which sent the majority of sailors into the cold water. The regatta director Günther Moertel immediately instructed all boats to return to land. Thanks to its numerous rescue boats, neighboring clubs were able to prevent any serious mishaps. After a brief recovery period from the weather shock, everyone prepared for another five races on the Ammersee – some of them hard fought battles. Wind conditions for the remaining races were extremely complicated with many sudden gusts and wind shifts, whichplaced high demands on all of the sailors’ abilities. So, it was not surprising that the racing scene’s regulars moved up to frontrunner positions.
The German Championship was clearly and impressively won by Bob Baier (GER) who placed ahead of Sascha Wallmer (CH) and Nils Bunkenburg (GER). Helmut Stumhofer (GER) took fourth place. Bob Baier once again proved to be an extremely well-rounded sailor in his class and had a very good material package; he is an absolute top performer in Europe, even in the most difficult of conditions. Stumhofer and Baier delivered hard-fought battles in strong and moderate winds, and some of the races were not decided until the final meters. Sascha Wallmer, a light wind and tactical expert, exploited his opportunities in races with decreasing winds. In a successful comeback, Nils Bunkenburg was constantly in the lead group in all conditions. The former A-Cat sailing world champion only needed one day of competition to reestablish himself among the top group after retiring from competition for several years. After his return to racing at lightning speed, ‘sailing Germany’ can only hope for his continued presence at A-CAT regatta competitions!
On Saturday evening, all race participants and helpers were invited to the the 40th anniversary celebration of the German A-Cat Association at the club facilities of the Utting Sailing Association. The rock and roll band "Root Bootleg" played, and not only was its music 'loud', as announced in advance, but the clear consensus of the audience was that it ‘rocked’ – putting out good vibrations for guests and the event building alike.
The extraordinary weather conditions, the very good atmosphere and excellent club work by TSV Utting Watersports will certainly leave a long-lasting impression in the memories of participants. The next German Championship event for A-Cat sailors will already be held in May 2012 in Wismar on the Baltic Sea.
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The 2010 International German A-Cat Championship was held at Scharbeutz on the Baltic Sea on September 3-9, 2010. On the second and third days of competition, the 35 participants from five nations (27, GER, 3 NLD, 3 POL, 1 SWE, 1 AUT) were treated to seven beautiful and challenging races with winds from 3 to nearly 5 on the Beaufort scale. Sailing had been cancelled on the first day, because of lots of wind holes and shifty winds.
The overall victory went to Sjoerd Hoekstra NLD 3 (on DNA, 8 pts., based on 4 first and 2 second place finishes) ahead of Bob Baier GER 14 (on NIKITA, 10 pts., based on 2 first and 4 second places) and Thilo Keller GER 45 (on Arrow, 22 pts.). After the second day of the competition – with somewhat more wind and longer wave periods – Bob Baier still held the lead with two first places, then the situation changed on the third day and Hoekstra took the series lead on his DNA with three first places. Thilo Keller was ranked third ahead of Jörg Horn GER 10.
Race results:
http://www.ycso.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=298&Itemid=230
The new Dutch boat design, the DNA, has won the last three national A-CAT championships (CH, NLD, GER) in moderate to strong wind conditions. A clear trend! The class is currently puzzling over whether broad changes are necessary in boat design. However, the new boat has not experienced widespread success in lighter winds.
In a side program to the event, VDAC announced that Utting am Ammersee in Bavaria will host the 2011 International German Championship. Once again, the championship will be held late in the season in October 2011.
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