High Sea Racer stops at Tall Dune
– Ocean racing driver stops in high dunes
Fast, robust, maneuverable, spartan – all these adjectives describe Class 40 ocean racing boats. The 12.5-meter-long and 4.5-meter-wide “offshore racer” of the “Next Generation Sailing” team was anchored in the Hohe Düne Marina. There it took on the name of the new sponsor “Task Engineering”, a German-Danish supplier for the offshore wind energy industry.
“This boat is a pure racer without any comfort, built exclusively for ocean racing. It can reach speeds of up to 30 knots. What is also unique is that it is sailed by only two people,” says Melwin Fink (22), who sails this high-tech boat together with Lennart Burke (25) in regattas across the world’s oceans.
In October, the two skippers want to break the record at the Round Denmark Regatta. “That is a record distance of 720 nautical miles from Esbjerg in the North Sea to Aarhus in the Baltic Sea,” said Fink.
The next big regatta for the “Next Generation Sailing Team” is the Transat Jacques Vabre 2025, which runs non-stop from France to the Caribbean. This 4,500 nautical mile (8,334 kilometer) regatta is one of the largest in the world. Last year, the young Burke/Fink team finished 15th in their debut.
The sponsorship of Task Engineering extends beyond the Hohe Düne Marina, as the company also supplies key components for offshore wind energy projects worldwide. Despite its offshore racing capabilities, the Class 40 boat is not designed for leisurely cruising, as it will mainly be used in intense competitions on the high seas.
