OC-6 Regatta Rund um Scharfenberg

A successful start to the season for our OC-6 crew. Our athletes started the season successfully as a mixed team (3 women, 3 men) and, over a little more than 18 km in 1:33:59, took first place in their class.

The team even left 2 open teams (all-male teams or with only 1 woman on board) behind it.

The race „Rund um Scharfenberg“ takes place every year in April on the Tegeler See in Berlin. Idyllically surrounded by lots of forest, a few marinas and small bathing bays, the lake on the Havel offers many varied and idyllic perspectives.

„As lovely as we were charmed by the nature, it was first of all about focusing on the route,“ says Gaby, our cox, who manoeuvred us well and safely past all the obstacles.

The start in front of the clubhouse of the Berlin canoe club Borussia (BKCB) with 9 outrigger six boats is quite an experience. In the tight field of starters close to the BKCB bank, with the odd touch of neighbouring boats and being caught in a pincer, we soon reached the first bend.

Past the island of Valentinswerder, then taking the right channel past Maienwerder, and then behind Baumwerder taking the right gap towards the island of Scharfenberg, gave the odd tight bend which, in the still closely packed field, kept setting challenges for the coxes. Then, within sight, past the BKCB again, around Lindwerder from the right and then back to the BKCB, where a buoy had to be rounded close to the bank so that the spectators, too, could experience a bit more closeness to the competitors. This course three times, and you already had 18.25 km on your GPS watch.

The route gave rise to different wind and current directions and, at times, deeper and shallower zones, which affected our boat differently. „It didn't get boring, and for the headwind sections we sought, where possible, the wind shadow of the headlands, while at the same time fighting the ground effect in shallower zones by increasing the stroke rate,“ says Lars the helm, who, through his commands in the boat, organised the controlled change of paddling side and also tactical adjustments to the geographical conditions.

Our stroke Florian, on the foremost seat, meanwhile kept an eye on the waves of the boats ahead, whose potential he liked to use to ease our efforts. With the size of the boats, that works more or less well. Besides, we were ultimately faster than the boat immediately ahead, so we only briefly enjoyed such a benefit.

Despite a short preparation time for some of us, our team was well attuned to one another and was able to secure the placing in the first third of the race. While we hung onto the hosts' open boat from the BKCB for a while, towards the end of the 2nd lap we then had to accept that we couldn't carry the previous pace into the 3rd lap.

The lead over our pursuers remained comfortable, however, and even though we were already exhausted, we only had to concentrate on not tipping over through a mishap or losing the course.

So we could after all enjoy a little of this idyllic, nature-rich atmosphere with a blue sky and white fair-weather clouds at a fresh 10 degrees air temperature.

Exhausted but content with our performance, we then went back to the beach to take the boats out, where the boat trailer was waiting for us. For some of us it was the first joint race over this distance. For that, everything went really great.

Many thanks to the crew, who took the trouble and safely found their way to Berlin on the Tegeler See and back to Frankfurt am Main.