Transatlantic Regatta 1935
The 1935 transatlantic regatta led from Newport (Rhode Island) across the North Atlantic to Bergen (Norway) .
run
The regatta, which was extraordinarily hard and tragic because of the bad weather conditions for all crews of the participating yachts, triggered euphoric enthusiasm for ocean regattas for the first time in Germany with the participation of a German yacht, the Yawl Störtebeker II under its skipper, HAPAG captain Ludwig Schlimbach which also explains the strong German participation in the Bermuda-Cuxhaven 1936 ocean race that took place the following year .
The race started on June 8, 1935 in front of the American sailing mecca Newport. The six participating yachts were:
- the gaff ketch Hamrah
- Mistress. a gaff schooner owned by the owner George Roosevelt
- the German Störtebeker II under Ludwig Schlimbach
- Stormy Weather , one of Rod Stephens run as skipper yawl of the owner Philip le Boutillier in 1934 after a design by Olin Stephens was built
- Vagabond , a Roger Robinson. belonging gaff ketch
- the ketch Vamarie of the owner Vadim Makaroff. sailed by skipper Sherman Hoyt
Two serious incidents occurred during the very stormy regattas, which required the hardest of all teams. While a crew member of the yacht Vamarie that went on 20 June 1935 on board was rinsed under the ship's keel of three meters depth along to ausgefierten on a leash the aft Patentlogs yet despite a speed of 10 knots at 7 wind force Beaufort could engage and after ten minutes back on deck, the participating yacht Hamrah lost its owner at 46 ° N 40 ° W, who was washed out of the yacht's cockpit by a sea entering at 8 winds Beaufort. In the subsequent man-over-board maneuvers , his two sons who were sailing with him were also lost and the boom broke. After five hours of fruitless search that had Hamrah initially for 50 hours in the storm heave and then broke with the existing three people remaining crew further search in the fog without success, and returned to Nova Scotia back in Canada. For his achievements, the 21-year-old skipper Charles Tillinghast jr. the Blue Water Medal in recognition of his seafaring achievements in this accident.
The race itself became a duel between the leading Vamarie and the smaller Stormy Weather at the height of the Pentland Firth . While the crew of the Stormy Weather had an idea of the position of the Vamarie from intercepted radio messages , the crew of the Vamarie might not be aware of any visual contact with the Stormy Weather . On June 27, 1935, the Vamarie was the first to cross the finish line in front of Bergen. On the evening of the Vamarie's victory celebration , the Stormy Weather was the second yacht in the finish line, but the winner according to the calculated time, because the larger Vamarie had to pay her 5:47 hours of calculated time. The Mistress arrived in Bergen on June 29th and the Vagabond on July 4th, 1935. The German Störtebeker II needed 35 days at sea for the race as a Last Ship Home .
Quotes
"... the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced."
literature
- Ludwig Dinklage: Ocean races, 70 years of transatlantic regattas, 1866 - 1936. Bremen 1936.
- Wolfgang Frank: The helmsman was God. The storm voyage of the "Störtebeker" across the Atlantic. Hamburg 1936.
- Charles Larkin: Between Cut Water and Wake. 1937. (engl.)