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In a fresh breeze of 15-20 knots and under a crystal clear blue sky once again the fans saw spectacular action on the race course.

European and World Champion Darren BUNDOCK was the winner of the day. He not only won the event in Travemünde and but also collected the purse for the overall trophy. 'Bundy' who sailed with British crew Will HOWDEN in Travemünde, was all smiles after his well deserved victory and takes home 8.000 Euros.

A more tight duel was on in the 49er class. Going into the last tour stop in Travemünde, Danish brothers Peter and Sören HANSEN were defending a three-point-lead over European Champions Marcus BAUR and Max GROY. The Germans needed to win the Travemünde event and put at least three teams between them and the Danes. Tha battle was only decided on the last day, when Baur/Groy lost their lead to Marcin CZAJKOWSKI and Krysztof KIERKOWSKI who collected five wins out of ten races in Travemünde and won the event.

At the same time the Hansen Brothers moved up to third and thus secured the overall victory. Peter HANSEN said afterwards: "Thank you Travemünde. Thank you Volvo. This event is unique and we all hope that this is how the future of our sport looks like".

It will hopefully be decided by the end of October whether the series will be continued. Thomas Hanel, member of the board of Volvo Car Germany said "we are more than pleased with the results of our partnership. We will definitely carry on with our support for sailing. Without a hundred percent planning guarantee I can already say that we want to develop the brand Volvo Champions Race further and make it even better".

Mitch Booth who came fourth in Travemünde but missed out on a podium´s place due to his absence at one of the three Tour Stops, agrees with Hansen: "this show should be international. It's great fun for all of us and still offers good and intensive racing on a high level!"

In the words of event organiser Dirk Neumann (4Sail Projects/Hamburg) the future is looking bright: "We are convinced that we have established a mile stone in Olympic sailing and we will work and push hard to carry this idea into the future to renovate some of the sailing's characteristics and make it a lot more attractive for a broad public".

At the final prize giving a total purse of 48.500 Euro was divided between the top eight crews of each class and the top three teams in the event's rankings. The winners were awarded with Magnum bottles of champagne and their national anthems.

Volvo Champions Race 2003
Final Results Travemünde

Tornado Sport

1st Darren Bundock/Will Howden (AUS) 11 pts
2nd Martin Strandberg/Kristian Mattsson (SWE) 20 pts
3rd Peder Ronholt/Sören Jörgensen (DEN) 25 pts
4th Mitch Booth/Herbet Dercksen (NED) 30 pts
5th Roland Gäbler/Gunnar Struckmann (Tinglev) 31 pts
6th Helge und Christian Sach (Zarnekau) 41 pts
7th Johannes Polgar/Carsten Happel (GER) 48 pts

49er

1st Marcin Czajkowski/Krysztof Kierkowski (POL) 16 pts
2nd Marcus Baur/Max Groy (Kiel/Fleckeby) 16 pts
3rd Peter und Sören Hansen (DEN) 25 pts
4th Tom Ruegge/Jörg Steiner (SUI) 26 pts
5th Markus Steeg/Hannes Peckolt (Budenheim/Kiel) 27 pts
6th Martin Kirketerp/Dion Valente (DEN) 44 pts

Volvo Champions Race 2003

Final Results ­ Tour Rankings

Tornado Sport

1st Darren Bundock/Glen Ashby (AUS) 43 pts
2nd Roland Gäbler/Gunnar Struckmann (GER) 37 pts
3rd Peder Ronholt/Sören Jörgensen (DEN) 36 pts
4th Johannes Polgar/Carsten Happel (GER) 30 pts
5th Helge+ Christian Sach (GER) 27 pts
6th Mitch Booth/Herbet Dercksen (NED) 25 pts
7th Martin Strandberg/Kristian Mattsson (SWE) 22 pts
8th Martin Rusterholz/Andy Heuss (SUI) 18 pts

49er

1st Peter+Sören Hansen (DEN) 42 pts
2nd Marcus Baur/Max Groy (GER) 40 pts
3rd Markus Steeg/Moritz Deml (GER) 33 pts
4th Tom Ruegge/Jörg Steiner (SUI) 24 pts
5th Felix Oehme/Heiko Thölmann (GER) 17 pts
6th Gabriel Wicke/Wolf Jeschonneck (GER) 17 pts
7th Nico Delle-Karth/Nikolaus Resch (AUT) 17 pts
8th Jan-Peter+Hannes Peckolt (GER) 16 pts