Photos by Soren Hese

In recent years, the Verein Seglerhais am Wannsee (VSaW) has begun paying special attention to classic yachts; many units from different years of construction can (again) be admired in the club’s harbor. So, the next logical step was to put on a regatta featuring these yachts of years past, and thus the Berlin Klassik Regatta was born. The Berlin Klassik Regatta was supposed to kick off last year with a long-distance race, but of course that was cancelled for well-known pandemic reasons.

This year, however, everything was ready on July 3, 2022: no restrictions, summery weather and super atmosphere after the great party the night before – the 25 registered teams were overjoyed. The field was started on Lake Wannsee and then sailed to Lake Jungfernsee where the turning buoy was located near the historic Meierei of Schloss Cecilienhof, marking the journey back to the Wannsee.

Unfortunately, the joy was marred by a drop in wind; the wheat was separated from the chaff in the narrowness of the Sacrower Heilandskirche. Some skippers still had the right nose and were able to use the conditions for themselves; others simply remained in the doldrums. This resulted in only nine boats finishing; the rest gave up or timed out of the race and had to be scored as DNF.

“First ship home” was the 6er with the crew of Andreas Haubold, who also achieved the overall victory according to the calculated time. Another seven boats, all sailing under the VSaW burgee, finished the race within the time limit. Only the 60sqm national cruiser from the Deutsch-Britischer Yacht Club broke into this phalanx, which took second place with skipper Dietrich Wolf.