It's far from the end of the line for the Olympic aspirants, but a good result in Kiel is a prerequisite for a prosperous finish at the final reckoning in Perth, Australia, in December. While the qualifying points for a place in the top 20 at the Skandia Sail for Gold in Weymouth were pretty high, the Germans have a slightly easier time of it at this somewhat less exquisite regatta. "A preliminary decision will certainly be made here in Kiel in the elimination," explained 470 sailor Susann Beucke, who is currently in second place with helmswoman Tina Lutz. "Everyone wants a medal to take home the bonus points."
Even with a total of 27 teams in the top ten, the Laser duel between Simon Grotelüschen and Philippp Buhl remains the highlight from a German perspective. After eight races, Grotelüschen from Kiel is once again in the lead, followed by Buhl. In the other classes, only Heiko Kröger from Sailing Team Germany is currently in the lead in the 2.4 mR. Also worth mentioning are two race wins by Alexander Schlonski/Matthias Bohn, who were able to close the gap to Robert Stanjek/Frithjof Kleen to one point in the Star. Things did not look good for Johannes Babendererde/Timo Jacobs, however, who complained about speed problems and also got stuck on a buoy. In the women's match race, Silke Hahlbrock's team won eight heats in the second round robin - in third place. Whoever manages three wins first will be in the semi-finals.
The top placings in the individual classes: Laser: 1st Grotelüschen, 2nd Buhl; Laser Radial: 5th Lisa Fasselt, 6th Franziska Goltz; Finn: 6th Matthias Miller; RS:X women: 2nd Moana Delle; RS:X men: 2nd Toni Wilhelm; 49er: Tobias 2nd Schadewaldt/Johannes Baumann; 470 women: 2nd Tina Lutz/Susann Beucke, 3rd Kathrin Kadelbach/Friederike Belcher; 470 men: 5th Ferdinand Gerz/Patrik Belcher. Tina Lutz/Susann Beucke, 3rd Kathrin Kadelbach/Friederike Belcher; 470 men: 5th Ferdinand Gerz/Patrick Follmann; Star: 4th Stanjek/Kleen, 5th Schlonski/Bohn; 2.4 mR: 1st Heiko Kröger; women's match race: 3rd Silke Hahlbrock.
While the sailors present in Kiel are doing their best on the water, there is disgruntlement behind the scenes about the absence of many international stars who skipped the Kiel World Cup final for various reasons. Those responsible cite the qualification modes of the various nations, but also the clumsy scheduling of the World Sailing Federation, which has scheduled three World Cup events in Medemblik, Weymouth and Kiel very close together and the "Super-Euro" in Helsinki at the beginning of July. Kiel Week is facing a similar fate in the 2012 Olympic year, and from 2013 its status as a World Cup regatta is uncertain because the Isaf is reducing the number of events. "Sailors and regatta organisers are in the same boat, but they are running into a wall with Isaf," said star helmsman Johannes Polgar, for example, probably speaking for more than just himself.
Away from the regatta course, a number of sailing celebrities will also be making appearances in Kiel in the coming days. Today at 11am, blue water hero Boris Herrmann will be giving a press conference in Schilksee, on Wednesday evening he will be a guest on the NDR programme DAS at 6.45pm. On Thursday evening he will be honoured at the KYC regatta dinner, and in between he wants to sail on the MOD-70 trimaran "Race for Water" and on the IMX 40 "Veolia". Also in Kiel today is Markus Wieser, who has just won the first German regatta with "Container" at the Audi Medcup in Marseille. He will be present at the Kiel Week press conference. The extreme MOD-70 trimaran (21.20 metres long, 6.3 tonnes light, up to 40 knots fast) will arrive on Friday. Jochen Schümann from the "Audi Sailing Team powered by All4One" is also expected to attend.
To the Event page and the Results.
