Men's Secret Business Claim German Open Championship Title

27 boats signed in for the German Open 2009 - finally 23 boats showed up at the starting line. The German Open were sailed in Prien at Lake Chiemsee from 29 May to 1 June and the event was hosted by Chiemsee Yacht Club (www.cyc-prien.de).

The weather report was promising and the in fact 9 exciting races could be sailed.

The 2 races on Friday were very sportive with gusts up to 35 knots and the fleet showed an impressive performance - the Race Committee was very impressed, especially the downwind runs with 18 knots boat speed were formidable.

The 2 races on Saturday were sailed in a 10 knots breeze which picked up to 25 knots when a rain-shower was moving over the race area.

Weather report for Sunday was promising: less wind but sunshine and blue skies - and this was delivered. The race committee decided to sail as many races due to Monday's forecast with dying winds. 5 races could be sailed in 7 hours and by 18:00 the Championship was over: 9 challenging races with 8 different winners - another proof for the equal level of the teams.

The Top 3 results:

1. GER 731 "Men's Secret Business" Rudolf Houdek, 35 Punkte
2. GER 627 "Rat Pack" Oliver Schwall, 36 Punkte
3. GER 582 "No Woman No Cry" Schäfer / Eich, 38 Punkte

The final results and some nice pictures are for download from the CYC website:

• ð http://www.cyc-prien.de/main/regatten/ergebn09/e03_2009.htm
• ð http://www.cyc-prien.de/main/galerie/fotos2009.php?dir=6

Anything else?

YES: Partytime - the social program was outstanding!!

For Friday Night the German Class invited the sailors for a Bavarian Night with free beer and local food directly after the races and some crews didn't find time to get out of their foul-weather-gear all night long ;-)

Saturday CYC invited all sailors for a Championship BBQ which was outstanding - None of the past major events presented anything comparable.

Sunday after the races CYC and one of the sailors invited all teams for Bavarian Sausages and free beer prior to the price giving which was hold later this evening.

During price giving each crew received a gift from Yachticon, one of the sponsors of the event - special prices were donated by Peter Göckel / Devotisailing Germany and by Medion for crews with the longest trips to Chiemsee.

So everyone enjoyed the event and promised to be back when CYC will host another Melges24 event.

Last but not least: On Monday the Lake was back in "Chiemsee-mode", no wind, flat water and pure sunshine - nice for craning out the boats and preparing them for the trip home.

Günter Tzeschlock / 03.06.2009