Eight and a half hours, 18 races: a great day of racing at the Heinz Kettler Cup final in Belgium
Shifting winds on Lake Bütgenbach are putting crews and support staff to the test – with four teams neck and neck ahead of the final day
19 September 2026
Bütgenbach, 19 September 2026. The first starting signal was given at 10.30 am, and the boats returned to the jetty at 6 pm. In between lay a day of racing just as sailors could wish for – and one that, at the same time, demanded a great deal from everyone involved.
Lake Bütgenbach provided wonderful sailing conditions. But ‘wonderful’ here does not simply mean ‘easy’: the wind shifted throughout the day, no advantage lasted long, and anyone who misjudged which side of the course to take lost places. As a result, every metre on the water was fiercely contested.
By the end of the day, 18 races had been recorded in the results service – and every single team had lined up at the start ten times. Ten races in a single day, without long breaks, in shifting winds and with full concentration from the first to the last tack: that is a remarkable achievement. All the crews persevered and sailed to the full right up to the final race. They deserve great praise for this.
The team on shore and on the support boats deserve just as much credit. A regatta day of this length is at least as demanding for the volunteers as it is for the crews: changing jetties, course marks, safety boats, results service, catering. Eight and a half hours long, with no room for error. Without this team, there would be no Heinz Kettler Cup.
The race committee deserves a special mention. On this day, it was a joint German-Belgian project: ‘Wir sind Wir Inclusion in Sailing e.V.’ provided the German race officers, whilst the crew on the water came from Belgium. Marcus Cremer and Pierre Coucke jointly directed operations from the start boat. This ran smoothly across 18 races – a brilliant job.
The standings after the first day of the regatta:
| Rang | Team |
| 1. | Team Sophia |
| 2. | SALTO SAILING Team Norway |
| 3. | Alster HSC |
| 4. | BLAG Sailing Team |
| 5. | Skyline Sailors |
| 6. | Butscher |
| 7. | Les papy |
| 8. | Blind Side |
| 9. | Sailing Vision |
Source: official overall standings, as at 19 September 2026, 6.13 pm.
It could hardly be any closer at the top: Team Sophia and SALTO SAILING Team Norway are level on points, with the lead decided by the better individual result. Behind them, Alster HSC and the hosts, BLAG Sailing Team, are within striking distance. Four teams that still have everything to play for on Sunday.
First, though, the evening is all about the barbecue and winding down together at the club. The action continues on Sunday morning, and that’s when things get serious: the title of the 2026 Heinz Kettler Germany Cup will be decided in the afternoon, with the prize-giving ceremony scheduled for 4.30 pm.
Our thanks for this day of racing go to the Royal Yacht Club Warche and its team, the Heinz Kettler Foundation as the series’ namesake and main sponsor, and the municipality of Bütgenbach. The final is being held as part of the ‘People to People’ Small Project Fund under the Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE) programme and is funded by the European Union.
