On Thursday evening the opening of the German openings party of the German Open was Actually in Denmark on an Island. VW sponsored the Event so some of the crew's entertained themselves with some driving in a powerful VW Phaeton. You could even do a slalom track with a boat behind you.

On Saturday there was more than enough wind (20-25 knots) and squalls coming over. There were three races. The Pungin crew Sui 213 with Hans Peter Schmid, Christof Wilke and Christoph Ribaux took the lead after the first day with two first and one second place. They were closely followed by the team of Ned 26 Feng Shui, Arend Jan Pasman, Frank Koppers and Ben Kloos with one first, a second and a fourth place.

Tom Ross a famous German Sailor go two third places and a eight place is with the Ger 29. First Classic was Lutz von Meyerinck followed closely by Hauke Wulf. After the first day Felix Bibus had to retire after he had a fracture in his hand. His crew took over Rana with some good results. The day ended with a diner buffet at the club, a dia show and some more VW driving. The second day the wind was a little bit calmer but still 17-20knots and 3 more races were sailed. The tables turned after this day. Feng Shui took the lead with two first and one second place while Pungin had a first, a third and second place. After 6 races Pungin and Feng Shui had equal points but Feng Shui had a better last race. Tom Ross was out of the race with a hole in the boat after a collision. He got a redress for the next day.

In the evening the 5.5 sailors went to Flensburg for a sight seeing tour and a visit to the favorite Tapa's bar of Hans and Petra Koster, who had everything very well organized, from social program till spectator boats and very important press coverage. Some of the crew got into the Flensburg Nightlife which is very lively indeed. The last day, decision day, two more races to go. Light winds compared to the days before. The Rana crew reinforced by Amande Tolhurst ( the grand daughter of the famous Australian 5.5 sailor Frank Tolhurst ) got in two first places. The first race Feng Shui came second very close to Rana, but not close enough. Pungin got third. So the last race was the one that would count. After a nerve breaking first beat Pungin took the lead over Feng Shui and kept it till the finish. Pungin with Hans Peter and his crew are German Champion.

Tom Ross was the first German boat Lutz von Meijerinck was first classic with The Fram II who was originally owned by king Olaf was the first long keel classic. She came sailing all the way from Kiel.

A report brought to you by Hans Köster / Linda Rijkuiter

Results