VX One European Season starts with a Bang!

But let’s take it slowly and start from the beginning…

The Rheinwoche, usually a long-distance downstream race, was exceptionally held as a stationary regatta for the 125th anniversary of Segelclub Rheingau e.V. and Kölner Yachtclub e.V., conducted in front of Walluf on the Rhine, the home port of SCR. Since two VX ONEs have already found their home in this club, the opportunity arose to hold the VX ONE International European Open 2025 there. A big spectacle with hundreds of visitors, live music, notable guests, and lots of local Rhine wine.

Because the mainly participating cruising yachts sailed different courses than we did, the fleet was split in the morning and the VX ONE sailed parallel up-and-down courses together with the Tempest class. In the afternoon, there was a long-distance race on Yardstick together with the 109-boat Rheinwoche starting fleet. This race counted both toward the Euro and the official Long distance ranking.

After the last VX ONE finally docked at 11 p.m. on Friday, the fleet was complete with eight boats. This time, two crews traveled all the way from northern England, which made us particularly happy. A large reciprocal visit next year for the Euro in England is already planned.

Everyone enjoyed the party and great catering at SCR and eagerly awaited the next morning – a lot of wind was forecast. At the skippers’ briefing, this was confirmed: a rain front was rolling in, bringing gusts of up to 28 knots. Added to this was the new situation for most participants of sailing on a river with about 5 knots current speed, exactly against westerly wind. Meaning, on the upwind leg with the current, and downwind against it. This makes you doubt the speedometer readings; suddenly, you’re comfortably sailing upwind at over 10 knots, while even at full glide with kite you can’t get much faster. Everything was very unusual.

But the most impressive, already announced at the briefing, was the transport shipping — convoys of container and heavy cargo ships up to 190 meters long crossed like moving black walls almost continuously through the entire regatta field. They cannot avoid or slow down, even if they wanted to. So we started the first day with great respect. And as it turned out, rightly so.

With nearly consistent 5 beaufort, the two-person teams really had to fight. Not only were the jibes risky, even on the upwind legs they briefly heeled dangerously. After some near-misses with the rocky shore or, worse, the monster ships, a few decided not to start in the afternoon to avoid risking people and equipment. The shipping traffic forces you into maneuvers, whether it fits or not. A mistake can always happen, even a technical failure, a snapped halyard in a tack. But the price on the Rhine is not just getting wet or letting others pass. A seemingly small problem in the wrong place can end very badly.

However, enough teams remained to represent the class publicly in the afternoon’s long-distance race. For the visitors, we were spectacular racing machines, sent off in start group 0 before everyone else. And they crossed the finish line as such, but because of staggered group starts and different Yardstick numbers, it stayed exciting. By Saturday evening, it was clear: in the intermediate results, the VX ONE were far ahead – seven boats among the first 13.

With gusts over 40 knots predicted for Sunday, only four VX ONE teams remained for that day with slightly changed crews. Teams were reinforced; a chartered boat stayed ashore out of consideration for the owner. The remaining fleet literally fought its way through the day and gave the spectators at the finish line an impressive finale: with the glowing evening sun at their backs, four colorful gennakers rushed around the last river bend, showing off their aluminum foils in spectacular gliding right into the harbor bay. Then there was — a while of silence. And then the Asso 99, mathematically nearly 12 minutes late — surrounded by a fleet of Tempests, to which we want to express our respect here, held up well!

Jörg Fleischer, long based at SCR, started with a huge home advantage and was the clear favorite. He fulfilled those expectations with flying colors, but the competition never sleeps — the English team around Mike Matthews managed to cross the line first twice. On Monday, with moderate winds between 10 and 15 knots, all teams started again, and the results were mixed up once more. Overall, the round results read very mixed, as is often the case in the VX class, keeping the racing exciting until the very end.

But in this special venue, the local experts Jörg Fleischer, Ralf Höhler, and Jesper Fleischer were unbeatable. After eight races, they took not only the trophy for the VX ONE International European Open 2025 but also the blue ribbon for the fastest boat in the long-distance race AND the light blue ribbon as the fastest boat after Yardstick correction. European second place went to the English team of Mike Matthews with varying crew including Elpeth Keating, Davin Matthews, and John McAfee. European third place was taken by the team from Berlin, Bernhard Kämpf with Wilhelm Wutzler and Konstantin von Holtum.

The VX ONE Class Association Germany thanks Segelclub Rheingau for the invitation and fantastic organization, our great race director Timo Laukhardt, and their wonderful fleet. Thank you all — once again — for this unique time in sailing heaven: fair sport, adventure, helpfulness, and so much heartfelt shared laughter! We are sure: community is a key reason why more and more people will choose our “best boat in the world.”