The 2023 5.5 Metre wall calendar is now available to order, featuring some of the best images from the 2022 season.
The 2023 5.5 Metre wall calendar is now available to order, featuring some of the best images from the 2022 season.
MF XXII (SUI 232, Jürg Menzi-Schmid, Jürgen Eiermann, Christof Wilke) has won the 2022 5.5 Metre Herbstpreis, at Thunersee Yachtclub, after just one more race was possible on Sunday. Forza Del Destino (SUI 211, George Prapopoulos, Simon Pfändler, Thomas Huber) won the only race and took second overall while Pungin (SUI 213, Hans-Peter Schmid, Gilbert Dürr, Walter Dürr) took third overall.
After leaving the club at 09.00 the fleet sailed down the lake in a very light northerly before the first race started around 10.30 in 3-4 knots. The wind was still very unstable but strengthened slightly for a good race.
With the fleet splitting, the left side paid halfway up with Skylla IV (SUI 182, Andre Bernheim, Urs Werner, Alex Bernheim) leading up the middle. However, they were just beaten round the top mark by Forza Del Destino on the final shift. And there were a lot of them …
MF XXII rounded mid fleet but sailed a great downwind on the left to round the bottom mark overlapped with Forza Del Destino but on the inside track, so led up the final leg.
On the final beat the shifts again were crucial with Forza Del Destino staying in the middle while MF XXII headed towards the eastern shoreline. When they crossed again Forza Del Destino had a good lead to take the winners gun from MF XXII and Black & White (SUI 219, Daniel Schenker, Mark Dangel, Felix Schneebeli).
By now there was a bit of blue sky showing and within 10 minutes the wind had died to 1-2 knots and soon after, just glass. The race committee waited and waited and were rewarded with a light southerly, but this was very short lived and as the lake returned to glass, the rest of the racing was abandoned and the series was completed with just two races.
The end of the Herbstpreis marks the end of the European season for the class, but it has much to look forward to both next year and in the years after. The 2023 regatta calendar is being prepared now with the highlight being the Scandinavian Gold Cup and World Championship in Porto Cervo in Sardinia.
Full results: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/bb86d356-2203-463d-b3b9-c4db703478fb#!/results?classId=1fa11494-41eb-4f02-96d5-b140e64e738c
Flickr gallery of the day: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fivepointfivemetre/albums/72177720302735530
Final results after two races
1 MF XXII (SUI 232, Jürg Menzi-Schmid, Jürgen Eiermann, Christof Wilke) 3
2 Forza Del Destino (SUI 211, George Prapopoulos, Simon Pfändler, Thomas Huber) 5
3 Pungin (SUI 213, Hans-Peter Schmid, Gilbert Dürr, Walter Dürr) 8
4 Black & White (SUI 219, Daniel Schenker, Mark Dangel, Felix Schneebeli) 8
5 Skylla IV (SUI 182, Andre Bernheim, Urs Werner, Alex Bernheim) 8
The defending champions, and multiple winners of the Thunersee Yachtclub’s Herbstpreis, MF XXII (SUI 232, Jürg Menzi-Schmid, Jürgen Eiermann, Christof Wilke) won the only race possible on Saturday to lead the nine boat fleet going into Sunday.
After a delayed start due to rain and no wind, the fleet set out for a first start at around 16.00 with a very fitful southerly that came and went and never really stabilised. With various ‘hot boating’ going on Pungin (SUI 213, Wolf-Eberhard Richter, Beata Kallkowski, Walter Dürr) took second with Skylla IV (SUI 182, Andre Bernheim, Urs Werner, Alex Bernheim) coming through to third.
For many years the Herbstpreis, which is the traditional end of the European 5.5 Metre season, has been a three-day regatta, but this year it was reduced to the original two days, though has still maintained a healthy fleet size for racing on this stunningly picturesque lake at the heart of Switzerland, even though the low cloud obscured much on the impressive backdrop.
Once on the water, the light wind that was in place died away only to come back stronger, relatively speaking, at 4-5 knots half an hour later. The race team quickly got the fleets away (the event is shared with Dragons ad Onyxs) and the 5.5 fleet sailed three legs of a shortened course.
Pungin, with Wolf-Eberhard Richter at the helm, made a perfect pin end start, and were in contention up the first beat. However the speed of Menzi on MF XXII soon put them in front and they extended for a big win. Pungin held on for second after sailing a great race while Skylla came through to third on the final beat as the wind started to die away again and left a few of the early front runners some way back.
By now the sun was setting behind the mountains, so the fleet was sent ashore for some free beer and mountains of melted Swiss cheese.
Racing concludes on Sunday, with the latest start time of 15.00
Full results: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/bb86d356-2203-463d-b3b9-c4db703478fb#!/results?classId=1fa11494-41eb-4f02-96d5-b140e64e738c
Flickr gallery of the day: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fivepointfivemetre/albums/72177720302731252
Results after 1 race
1 MF XXII (SUI 232, Jürg Menzi-Schmid, Jürgen Eiermann, Christof Wilke)
2 Pungin (SUI 213, Hans-Peter Schmid, Gilbert Dürr, Walter Dürr) *
3 Skylla IV (SUI 182, Andre Bernheim, Urs Werner, Alex Bernheim)
4 Forza Del Destino (SUI 211, Simon Pfändler, George Prapopoulos, Thomas Huber)
5 Black & White (SUI 219, Daniel Schenker, Mark Dangel, Felix Schneebeli)
* Change of crew for this race
Aspire (POL 17, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Przemysław Gacek, Flavio Marazzi) has retained 5.5 Metre French Open title they won in 2021 after the final two races were sailed on Friday at the Regates Royales in Cannes.
New Moon III (BAH 25, Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) finished second while Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Herve Cunningham, Lasse Berthelsen) finished third. Both are also former winners here, but the Polish team was unmatched this year, with great speed, manoeuvres, and almost flawless tactics.
After a delay on shore to wait for wind, the fleet was sent out around midday in a slowly building breeze, but it was one of those hot, light wind days in Cannes and it never really developed to anything substantial. Pressure from the left and the right mixed the fleet but Aspire still led round and extended for a big win in Race 6 to wrap up the series with a race to spare. New Moon and Otto battled hard for second with New Moon crossing just ahead.
All teams sailed the final race, even though the series was settled, with the weather mark set under the lee of the island after a 40-degree shift as the thermal wind started to build. New Moon started well and led all the way, though several times she let Aspire strike out alone and only stayed ahead because they crossed at the top, New Moon had right of way. But it was enough and they had legs downwind to build a gap. On the last downwind they extended to about 6-7 boatlengths to win the final race, and close the series. Aspire was second and Otto again third.
Highlights from Day 4
The first Evolution was Ali Baba (GER 84 Wolf-Eberhard Richter, Beata Kallkowski, Oliver Weiss) who also finished fiftgh overall, and had a great week, often competing equally with many of the moderns.
The first Classic was Alzira (SUI 20/GER 117, Olaf Schulz, Holger Bock, Florian Hentschel). Alzira is actually owned by Jörg Sonntag, who this was helming No Stress, SUI 201/GER 122, a modern 5.5 Metre which has recently moved to Germany. As SUI 201 No Stress is a former double world championship winning boat with Jürg Menzi but was recently bought by Schulz.
Sailing with Sonntag was a 21-year-old Bundesliga sailor, Jacob Rek, normally seen on a J 70. He has been sailing 5.5 Metres for around 2 years, crewing for Sonntag, and is really enjoying the racing and looking forward to doing more in the future.
Jörg Sonntag’s daughter, Sandra Sonntag, also joined him for some racing this week and sums up why so many love sailing the 5.5 Metre in Cannes
She said, “The speed, the competition and the camaraderie. It’s a lot of fun. You definitely have to be very alert. We have good chemistry on the boat and good peers on the other boats, so it’s also the culture. I love sailing 5.5 Metres because they are fast. They are wonderful boats.”
“My dad starting sailing 5.5s in 2004. He sails a modern as well as the Classic Alzira. I join him once in a while. I was last here in Cannes in 2018. Cannes is beautiful. Everyone should come and visit in September, wonderful sailing and beautiful boats.”
Kusznierewicz commented, “The racing was awesome, one of the best 5.5 Metre regattas we have had. A lot of 5.5 sailors were thrilled about the conditions we had in Cannes, the whole venue, the old port, everything on shore but also on the water. It’s just a great venue and so many sailors were saying we should have a championship here as soon as possible, maybe for a worlds or Europeans combined with Regates Royales. I think that would be great.”
Crew member Przemysław Gacek steered the boat for some of the races and he explained this is part of the ongoing programme for team Aspire. “We made some changes and went sailing. This is the project that we are running in Aspire that’s a transformation for my friend Przemek, who in the future will be steering the boat but we need time and some more training for him. So this was just really to start doing it and probably next year we will continue with that for some regattas and from 2024 Przemek will be ready to steer the boat in every regatta and every condition.”
Finally he spoke about the friendliness of the competition. “I also experienced that the teams got closer to each other during the regatta, talking more and having dinners together and a lot of encouragement between the teams. We are all competitive of course, but also friendly and supportive, as well as sharing information about the new electronic devices we will be using next year. Some boats were coming to us and asking questions, and we were very supportive of that so that’s all positive for the class.”
The 5.5 Metre Class hopes to return to Cannes again in 2024. Unfortunately in 2023, the Regates Royales clashes with the 5.5 Metre Scandinavian Gold Cup and World Championship in Porto Cervo, Sardinia.
Meanwhile, the 2022 5.5 Metre international circuit concludes in two weeks’ time at the Herbstpreis on the Thunersee in Switzerland.
Final results
1 Aspire (POL 17, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Przemysław Gacek, Flavio Marazzi) 7
2 New Moon III (BAH 25, Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) 10
3 Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Herve Cunningham, Lasse Berthelsen) 16
4 Pungin (SUI 213, Hans-Peter Schmid, Gilbert Dürr, Walter Dürr) 25
5 Ali Baba (GER 84, Wolf-Eberhard, Richter Beata Kallkowski, Oliver Weiss) 32
Full results here: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/RR2022#!/results?classId=95153101-9b4c-492d-870d-b0438cc4f35d
Photo gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fivepointfivemetre/albums/72177720302335029
Aspire (POL 17, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Przemysław Gacek, Flavio Marazzi) has made it four wins in a row at the 2022 5.5 Metre French Open at the Regates Royales in Cannes after two more race wins on Thursday, with just one day left to sail. New Moon III (BAH 25, Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) move up to second with two second places while Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Herve Cunningham, Lasse Berthelsen) drop to third with two third places.
The third day in Cannes was a glorious day for sailing, with more wind and sunshine than forecast and three great races. A third, non-counting race was a Tour des Isles, a coastal race between the islands of Ste Marguerite and Saint Honorat, that lie just off the Cannes coastline.
Aspire had the upper hand in both points races, extending away for a comfortable win in the first and then a much closer win in the second. New Moon challenged for a while in the second race but the final beat put them back in fourth at the top, and they had to pull out all the stops on the final downwind to regain second, all down to the last approach to the gate, which they got spot on.
The fleet then joined with the Dragons for the Tour des Iles race around the islands, which proved more interesting than many expected. New Moon, helmed by Christoph Burger, led to the first mark, only to lose the lead to Aspire, helmed by Przemysław Gacek, but regained it while sailing down the channel between the islands. Then, on the final leg back to a finish line off the port entrance, Aspire went slightly higher and benefitted from getting the puffs first and slowly regained the lead, crossing the finish line ahead by little more than a boat length.
Highlights from Day 3
Kusznierewicz explained the day, “We are really enjoying Cannes, Regates Royales, it is such beautiful racing here. Actually it’s also quite physical because we had a nice breeze from the east from 14-16 knots, but the wind is changing so it makes the racing interesting. The fleet sometimes keeps very close to each other and sometimes separates.
“We had two up and down races today, which we had the great pleasure to win then we sailed round the islands, which is something new to us. But we enjoyed it, but this was the first race where Przemek was steering. Actually, we as team Aspire have a programme to bring Przemek on the helm. So far I was steering and he was learning and now he was steering. It was a very tight race with the New Moon team and just at the end we won! So for Przemek it will be a big celebration today.”
Bellagioia II (SUI 175 Frédéric De Rutté, Matthieu Mac Gillycuddy, Frédéric Saudan) is in seventh place, the second of the three Evolutions taking part this week.
De Rutté said, “I am enjoying Cannes very much. I was here several times in the 1980s and back then we only sailed metre class boats here, 12 metres, 6 metres and a lot of 5.5s. So this year I came back to enjoy the atmosphere of Cannes. We had a very nice day today. Yesterday we did not sail because it was too strong and today we had a lot of waves. We don’t get so much on our lake, but it was quite OK. In general we are very happy to be here.
“We have been sailing the boat since 2007, and before that we had a Chance boat from 1976. I’ve been sailing 5.5s for 45 years.”
Built in cold laminated mahogany in 1992 by Chantier Naval Kolly near Geneva, Bellagioia II is a Philippe Meier and Sebastien Schmidt design. “The boat was designed more for light winds because it is a little bit smaller, but today we were quite happy with the performance of the boat.”
After five races Aspire has a three-point lead with just two races to sail. Racing in Cannes concludes on Friday with light wind forecast.
Results after 5 races
1 Aspire (POL 17, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Przemysław Gacek, Flavio Marazzi) 4
2 New Moon III (BAH 25, Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) 7
3 Otto (NOR 68, Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Herve Cunningham, Lasse Berthelsen) 10
4 Pungin (SUI 213, Hans-Peter Schmid, Gilbert Dürr, Walter Dürr) 17
5 Ali Baba (GER 84, Wolf-Eberhard, Richter Beata Kallkowski, Oliver Weiss) 18
Full results here: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/RR2022#!/results?classId=95153101-9b4c-492d-870d-b0438cc4f35d
Photo gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fivepointfivemetre/albums/72177720302306752