Kiel Week: "Dreamed of it, but didn't dare to believe it"

Germany's Olympic sailors finished the 123rd Kiel Week with just one title win after winning five gold medals last year. Berliners Frederike Loewe and Anna Markfort saved the German Sailing Team from a clean sweep. The duo from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club secured their first Kiel Week victory in the Olympic double-handed dinghy with second place in the medal final. "We dreamed of it, but didn't dare to believe it," said helmswoman Frederike Loewe.

The passionate sailing nation Australia presented itself in top form at Kieler Woche. With two gold medals and one bronze in the eight Olympic disciplines sailed off Schilksee, the crews from Down Under are in first place in the nation rankings. The Italians also won two gold medals, while the German Sailing Team, the German national team, were delighted with their successes in the women's 470 (gold and bronze) and second place in the mixed catamarans, giving them a complete set of medals and third place in the nations' ranking. A total of 13 nations from three continents were able to send representatives to the award ceremonies on the Audi stage.

From the point of view of the German Sailing Association, Kiel Week was a success despite the significantly weaker result than a year ago: "The field was stronger than a year ago. That's why we are satisfied overall. The success of the 470s in particular is important for self-confidence. Because the crews are now travelling to the World Championships in Thessaloniki," said DSV Sports Director Nadine Stegenwalner. One downer was Philipp Buhl's missed chance of a medal in the Laser: "It's a shame that he catapulted himself out. But we know Philipp: he'll bounce back quickly."

Jan Hauke Erichsen and Ann-Kristin Wedemeyer from Flensburg won Kieler Woche silver in the Nacra 17 Olympic mixed catamaran class, with Thomas Zajak and Barbara Matz only having to admit defeat to the Austrian bronze medallist from Rio and his new foresailor. Four-time Kieler Woche winner and defending champion Philipp Buhl, on the other hand, fluffed his final in tenth and last place, saying: "I was really annoyed!" The 26-year-old world number one in the Laser dropped from second to sixth place and missed out on the medals. Berlin 49er sailors Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel narrowly missed out on a podium place in fourth. Despite good performances in Kiel, the bronze medallists from Rio were thwarted by a crash through no fault of their own and a broken mast. In the medal final, local heroes Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme had everything under control again in their comeback in the 49er after a break of around a year and won. They finished sixth in the final standings.

There are two reasons for the DSV fleet's total of 17 top ten placings, but nevertheless modest haul of titles and medals (3): The German Sailing Team is still sailing inconsistently in the post-Olympic year and longer breaks of some top performers. At the same time, the international standard at the world's largest regatta has risen significantly. With a new registration record totalling 1700 boats and athletes from 65 countries, Kieler Woche has regained its appeal as the German "grande dame" of global regatta sport after a number of slack years. "It was a wonderful Kiel Week with great, sometimes tough regatta sport and strong international participation," said Dirk Ramhorst, Head of Organisation.

The Para World Championships, which were held as part of Kiel Week, contributed to the large fields. Heiko Kröger, Paralympics winner in 2000, won the Para World Championship in the one-man keelboat class 2.4mR and thus achieved the best German result on the Kiel Fjord. The helmsman from Ammersbek near Hamburg had previously also won the open regatta series in the 2.4mR in the first part of the Kieler Woche, thus winning two titles at his home event. In the second Para class Hansa 303, former Sonar Paralympics winner Jens Kroker from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein in Hamburg won bronze. Piotr Cichocki from Poland won ahead of Christopher Symonds from Australia.

Following the cancellation of sailing for the 2020 Paralympics in Japan, the World Sailing Federation is fighting for a comeback with flagship events such as the World Championships in Kiel and had sponsored the world title fights with 100,000 euros. Dirk Ramhorst said: "I think that we were able to send a very strong signal to the International Paralympic Committee with this Para World Championship on the platform of Kiel Week."

On Sunday, Kiel Week also came to an end in other international classes. With the three races of the final day, Germany's Daniel Göttlich/Linus Klasen (Berlin), who had been leading until then, had to vacate their place on the podium. They posted their worst results of the series and slipped to fourth place. Telis Athanasopoulos Yogo/Dimitrios Tassios took the victory from Kiel to Greece. Second place went to France's Enzo Balanger/Gaultier Tallieu, while the best Germans were Lennart Kuss/Paul Arp from Rostock.

In the J/ 0, after an unsuccessful start to the Kiel Week, the Eckernförde J70 crew led by Jens Marten performed confidently in the final spurt. With four victories in the eight races, the SCE sailors built up an 18-point lead over Gordon Nickel and his team from SV Wilster. For Marten and his crew, the Kieler Woche victory also has another significance: the J70 class sailed its second regional league event off Kiel, and with the victory, SCE will be promoted directly to the second national league as regional league champions.

And his dominance in the J 80 apparently knows no bounds: For the eighth time in a row and the tenth time in total, Martin Menzner (Stein) and his team dominated the class. The crew started the series with an early start, but then performed almost flawlessly. After five daily victories and a second place, they could even afford to retire in the last race without jeopardising their overall victory. "They were challenging races on the Foxtrot course. The wind was tough, but manageable. The short, steep waves on the course were problematic. This puts a lot of strain on the boats," said Menzner. The Kiel crew celebrated the victory with an ice cream while the competition was still on the water, then wanted to keep their fingers crossed for the New Zealanders in the America's Cup in the evening.