After some eventful days, the 5.5 crew from Team Baghdad (Kristian Nergaard, Johan Barne and Trond Solli Sæther) managed to win the German Championships with the smallest of margins. The series 1-(5)-2-4-2-1 was enough to clinch the title just one point ahead of Swiss Jürg Menzi and his danish crew.

This was the season opener for the team, that also will race in Hankø Race Week before the main event of the year, the World Championships in Finland.

It was a challenge to start with as we had to sail with a replacement crew for absent Johan Barne on the first day. Considering not having the normal setup, the team still managed to get some creditable results and a shot at the title for the trailing days.

It felt good. We haven’t sailed in the 5.5 together for some time, but were able to pace up straight away, says Trond. Menzi and his crew could easily have won as well but we had some good breaks occasionally which tipped the scale in our favour.

As much as the team wanted to win, as important it was to get some training in and getting tuned in with the boat. Unfortunately, there were several thunderstorms circling Glücksburg on the final day. Even though it might have been possible to run a race or so, the race committee decided that the danger of having a frontal passage was just too big. Something the fleet experienced while coming in on the day before with strong squalls and heavy rainfall.

Results can be found here