Kiel Week: Prize money like at the World Cups

What the other two European World Cup regattas can do, Kiel is now demonstratively doing without World Cup status. This year, up to 60,000 euros in prize money has already been awarded in the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines.

With the support of the state government, the "prize money of the state of Schleswig-Holstein" was offered in the same amount as at the European World Cups before Hyères and Weymouth. The winners will receive 3000 euros, the runners-up 2000 euros and the third-place finishers 1000 euros. "We are very pleased that we can already set an exclamation mark in the sailing world for Kiel Week 2015 by offering the 'Prize Money of the State of Schleswig-Holstein'," said Minister President Torsten Albig.

The campaign is not intended to be a "one-off", but is planned for the duration of Hamburg's bid with Kiel as sailing partners to host the 2024 Olympic Games. In addition, numerous other measures are to follow to draw the attention of the global sailing community to Kiel as a high-performance venue for high-calibre regattas.

Philipp Buhl expressly welcomed the awarding of prize money: "This is a very good step and will definitely increase the appeal of Kieler Woche." He himself, who has won Kieler Woche in the Laser for the last three years without interruption, will unfortunately not be able to take part this year. "Our World Championship will take place shortly after Kiel Week in Kingston, Canada, and we will be training there beforehand, so unfortunately it won't work out for me," said the German national sailing team's greatest Olympic hopeful.

However, Germany's leading 49er sailors - the European champions Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel as well as Justus Schmidt and Max Böhme from Kiel, who have come on strong recently - will be competing at the Kieler Woche. Max Böhme said: "If prize money is offered, then it's a completely different category. It's been around for a long time in other sports, but it's been missing in Olympic sport until now. Of course, you still have the drive to win even without prize money, but it gives good performances an extra boost."