Message from Uwe regarding the European Championship 2018 in Germany:
Cancellation of European Sharpie Championship 2018
Dear Sharpie sailors
Due to the disappointing number of entries the Blankeneser Segel-Club and the Deutsche Sharpie KV feel sorry that they have to cancel the 2018 championship. We do not think it is reasonable to carry on with the preparations for the championship with 15 entries so far (1 Portuguese, 3 English, 6 Dutch and 5 German boats) and – after having contacted the national committees of the four nations – hardly more boats to exspect. It would adulterate the meaning of a championship and devalue the title of an “European Champion” when there are less boats at the start than at an ordinary weekender, considering that there are more than a hundred sharpies racing throughout Europe regularly. Apart from that it would be dishonest towards our sponsors (amongst them Budweiser) and irresponsable towards the Blankeneser Segel-Club (which always heartily welcomed the sharpies and has organized/co-organized eight championships) to use their financial resources and manpower.
The Blankeneser Segel-Club and the Deutsche Sharpie KV feel not happy at all that they have to make this hard and unprecedented decision after many considerations and intense talks. We feel very sorry for those crews who have been looking forward to coming to Hamburg and have already arranged their trips. We feel equally sorry for the many helpers of the BSC who have planned to spend a week of their valuable holiday time with the sharpies, and last but not least for the small group of German sharpie sailors who have been looking forward to hosting the fleet.
We hope that this unfortunate event may help the International Sharpie Class to reconcider their attitude towards racing in general and championship racing in specific, and we wish that the sharpie fleet will soon come back to their former strength and feel again the desire to compete in bigger fleets to challenge the skill of other crews at home and abroad.
- Juli 2018
Dieter Tetzen Uwe Peters
Vorsitzender Blankeneser Segel-Club e.V. Deutsche Sharpie KV