Report: Musto Skiffs at Möwenstein Regatta 2026 in Travemünde – 8/9 Aug

The second weekend in August saw the annual Mövenstein Regatta taking place in Travemünde hosted by the Lübecker Yacht Club in glorious sunshine. In recent years, this regatta has established itself as a friendly and relaxed event on the Baltic Sea. With the regatta lying in the middle of the summer holiday period, some of the usual suspects had unfortunately failed this year’s test of managing to avoid a conflict with their family holiday plans.

The conventional racing programme foresaw a maximum of eight races over the weekend on a shared racecourse with Formula 18, A-Cat, and International 14s. Given the observed growth in the number of International 14s at the event there is a concern that Turbo Tarboton may one day turn up at this event with the “wrong” boat.

The spacious LYC boat park, which amazingly still had lush green grass in contrast to the rest of a toasted Europe, provided a great campsite environment for relaxation before and after sailing.

When the racing finally got underway on Saturday afternoon, with three races being sailed following a lengthy postponement waiting for the promised breeze to arrive, a new phenomenon appeared to be establishing itself. Greta Müller in true chilled teenager schoolgirl fashion hadn‘t even started to rig her boat when the Musto Skiff fleet left the slipway. But, at the top mark on the first race (and then repeatedly in many other races over the weekend) she was sneaking round in first place sailing with her X-sail.

For the three races that were held on the Saturday afternoon a key point of entertainment was the start line, which had more bias towards the pin end than an A-line skirt. This level of start line bias meant that the majority of the boats (the Musto Skiff start was shared with the International 14s) were then attempting to start at the pin on port. On one of the starts the local Musto Skiff sailor and fleet ambassador, Dirk Rother, decided to mix things up and come in late to the pin on starboard. This move cut a few lunches and nearly created a boat-builder-benefit event within the tight block of International 14s coming in on port.

Despite Greta’s slick repeated performances getting off the line, it was Karsten Groth with his legend status and accumulated experience who powered through to put the best scores on the doors, with a 1-2-1 after the first day. However, Greta had managed to hold on and take the win in the second race to achieve a notable 2-1-2 going into the evening barbecue party.

Sunday was a different day with over 30°C awaiting us. With the wind from the south, the racing was held fairly close by within the smaller Travemünde Bay rather than being further out in the wider Lübecker Bay, as would be the usual case with a westerly wind. However, the wind was lighter and less determinate than on Saturday which led to multiple games of Snakes and Ladders with every sailor having their moment of (hopeful) glory before the gains all dissolved away again.

Roger Deuce often went right to gain some strong benefits from the wind bend around the headland, but then never found the pressure to reconnect with the top mark in time. Björn Blom appeared to favour the opposite approach on the left, but it was tricky to always join the dots to stay in any pressure. In Sunday’s first race, Anian Pauli had gone “all in“ at the top mark by hoisting on the spreader leg to try to protect his minimal lead over Roger, but this gutsy move ended promptly with a capsize. Unfortunately, this endeavour ended up curtailing his regatta, as when Anian climbed up onto his new (!!!) dagger board to right his boat, the dagger board then promptly split apart along its length. We can only assume that as a consequence that the telephone will have been ringing after the event up on Tyneside.

In the fifth race, Björn kept it together joining the dots to record a second place. However, it was the local hero Dirk who maintained his overnight position on the leader board with a 1-3-2 on the Sunday to reward himself with third place overall for the regatta.

Greta managed to work the tricky conditions well in the final race to take another race win. As a result of a very tidy weekend on the water, she earned herself second place overall.

Congratulations go to Karsten who won the regatta after recording a 2-1-3 on the last day and who managed this time around to safely complete the event without being speared by a (port tack) catamaran.

Upon returning to the slipway, the fleet was pleasantly honoured to have a new trolley-dolly in the form of local Musto Skiff sailor Mario. Mario had graciously decided to repay his penance for being another regatta absentee due to an incorrectly timed family holiday, by heading straight down to the boat park to assist the Musto Skiff fleet back onto land before unpacking his family.

Many thanks go to the friendly team from the Lübecker Yacht Club for a great weekend on the water and the barbeque party. Also, thanks go to Björn’s wife for the appreciated trolley service on the slipway, which could be quite congested with the catamarans. The fleet hopes that the participation level will grow back again for next year with the promised return of the holiday makers to support this enjoyable weekend that typically attracts a moderate westerly breeze out in the open bay.