Up to three races have been sailed on the courses, with German crews leading in three classes in the Olympic disciplines. Today, the final medal races are all about the podium positions.
Today's medal races in the ten Olympic and Paralympic 2.4 mR classes were completed by a total of 15 German crews. The decisions in the Match Race Women, Laser, Laser radial and Finn classes will be made without German participation.
The "König&Xie" crew led by Sven-Erik Horsch (Kiel) crowned the first half of Kieler Woche for the yachts. They took the Emperor's Cup for the best boat in the overall ranking of the Senate Prize and Kiel Cup. This decision was made for the first time in a race with a kangaroo start. After the "König&Xie" (ORCi I), the "Patent 3" (ORCi 2) and the "Cala Ventinove" (ORCi III+IV) had proven to be the best in their respective classes in the overall ranking from the Senate Prize on Saturday and the Kiel Cup (Sunday to Monday), they had to compete against each other in a direct comparison. In the short race over one nautical mile within sight of the Olympic Centre, the times to be sailed were calculated in advance and converted into time advantages for the smaller yachts. This resulted in an exciting race in which the "König&Xie" narrowed the gap metre by metre. "We were a little sceptical before the start. But we had the advantage of being in the chasing position. Every gust that brought us closer gave us an extra push," reported Horsch. Shortly before the finish, he finally squeezed past the competition and crossed the finish line three boat lengths ahead of Jürgen Klinghardt's "Patent 3" (Lübeck) and finally Uwe Wenzel's "Cala Ventinove" (Bremen). "An exciting format. It's nice that you don't have to wait for the calculation, but know immediately who has won. This format should be retained in the future," said Horsch.
The Kiel surfer Moana Delle is seemingly on course for victory, having only won one day so far. Her male colleagues Toni Wilhelm (Kiel, 2nd) and the Altenholz brothers Christian (6th) and Florian Freimüller (7th) are also well on course.
The young 49er crew Lennart Briesenick-Pudenz/Morten Massmann from Flensburg also put in an outstanding Kieler Woche performance. Having worked their way up to the top of the world rankings this year, they can now even dream of victory off Kiel. "So far we have been very cautious, but now of course we want to defend our position," says Briesenick-Pudenz ahead of the decisive medal race.
Heiko Kröger (Kiel) has already enjoyed three successes in the 2.4 mR on his home turf, most recently in 2005, and is now well on his way to claiming his fourth Kiel title. Before the final, he has overtaken his long-term rivals Thierry Schmitter (Netherlands) and Jens Als Andersen (Denmark).
There are signs of a heart-stopping final in the men's 470 on Wednesday. The Croatian European champion Semi Fantela has narrowly taken the lead ahead of the two German chasers Jan-Jasper Wagner/Lennart Scheufler (Berlin) and Lucas Zellmer/Heiko Seelig (Berlin), who suffered an early start disqualification in the last race. There are still three crews in the women's 470. Wibke Wriggers/Geeske Genrich, Anina Wagner/Marlene Steinherr and Annika Bochmann/Anika Lorenz are representing the German colours.
The German star boats will also go into the final with three crews. Alexander Schlonski/Frithjof Kleen (Rostock, 6th), Johannes Babendererde/Timo Jacobs (Lübeck, 8th) and Robert Stanjek/Markus Koy (Hamburg, 10th). "Success at Kieler Woche has a very high significance. The subsequent European Championship and the new ISAF Sailing World Cup will make it even more important," said Babendererde, looking forward to today's medal race. Schlonski was happy to still be there on Wednesday: "We had a bad race and had to throw our conservative tactics overboard. Fortunately, it paid off." However, the German crews have no chance against the leading Olympic champion Ian Percy (Great Britain).
Wednesday off Schilksee is now all about moving from one highlight to the next. While the Olympic classes will determine their Kiel Week winners in the medal races directly off the Schilksee breakwater, the 505 and X-41 yachts will start their European Championships. The X-35 class, which is very popular in Northern Europe, will be competing for the world championship title off Kiel for the second time since 2007.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
