Anyone familiar with Kiel Week would hardly believe the current scenario at the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre possible. At 6 p.m. in the evening, it is so quiet in the harbour of the world's largest regatta series that you could hear a euro coin drop from afar. The 126th edition of the "mother and father of all regatta series" is exactly as it was announced in Corona times: There is sailing galore. Little or nothing else. That is the sacrifice that organisers and participants have made in this unusual year in favour of their sport. Social encounters of any kind - with the exception of activities by the teams of helpers and a small daily press conference - cannot take place in the harbour area, which is littered with construction fences and thus organised according to boat classes. The athletes adhere to the strict regulations during the day, wear their masks on land and concentrate on their sport.
So far, the temperature measurements of the participants on the way to the harbour in the morning and subsequent possible further tests have only revealed five suspected cases - all of which tested negative, much to their relief and that of the organisers. This is very, very good news for Kieler Woche organisation manager Dirk Ramhorst, his 300 helpers and the participants on the courses. It is like a balm on the tense nerves at this first major international sailing event since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. FiRS rapid tests provide information on site within minutes based on saliva samples and analyses in the infrared spectrometer in the event of conspicuous temperature measurements. With this test procedure, Professor Patrick Warnke from Flensburg and colleagues from Manchester in the UK are using Biocel Analytics at the Olympic Centre to show how quickly and cost-effectively suspected cases can be dealt with before the significantly more expensive PCR tests. The tests at the Olympic Centre are free of charge for sailors.
On the courses in Strander Bucht and further afield, the athletes show what they are still capable of after a month-long break. The starts and around the buoys were sometimes noisy. After two days without a single coronavirus case, Kieler Woche organisation manager Dirk Ramhorst, who was able to smile cautiously again after two extremely tense weeks, reported with a wink after his detours on the courses at the weekend: "You can still tell that many crews are a little "rusty". Around 1500 active participants will be competing in the first half of Kiel Week. Of these, around 200 on 26 boats in the International German Championship of ORC yachts, a total of around 750 on "big boats" and an impressive 280 sailors in the J/24, J/70 and J/80 classes alone.
In addition to championship races and title fights, the classic Aalregatta and Welcome Race were also held on the opening weekend of Kiel Week. Thomas Beyer's crew on the Arcona 370 "Lilla Blas" from the Kieler Yacht-Club won the eel regatta ahead of Thomas Zager's Dehler 38 C "Saona" from the Burger Segler-Vereinigung and Martin Görge's Kieler J 120 "Hunky Dory". Although the fun regattas in Eckernförde were not celebrated as usual with a big sailing party, the atmosphere was nevertheless good and also characterised by gratitude for being able to compete again. The most successful teams of the Aalregatta and the Welcome Races in Eckernförde were called up individually and by radio for the award ceremony.
While the crew on the largest yacht in the starting field, the Maxi 75 "Calypso", easily cut through the sea on the Kiel-Eckernförde course in gusts of up to 30 knots, the smallest boat in the field, the just 24-foot-long Waarschip "Findus", stomped through the wave crests with reefed sails. This year, the return race from Eckernförde to Kiel did not lead to the Kiel lighthouse as usual, which the race committee would not have been allowed to enter in times of the coronavirus, but to Kiel's inner fjord. However, the wind and waves had calmed down somewhat in the meantime and were more favourable to the sometimes exhausted sailors under the direction of race director Ralf Paulsen and his team.
In the end, two teams were able to celebrate double victories in the Welcome Race: In the ORC III and IV groups, Jürgen Klinghardt's "Patent 4" with helmsman Henning Tebbe from Hamburg came out on top in both the outward and return races. In ORC II, Werner Lemmel's "Rarotonga" from Berlin dominated their fleet. In contrast, the Welcome Race in the ORC 1 class was a mixed bag: victory in the outward race was secured by the Kiel Yacht Club's youth project with the Baltic 52 "Zukunft IV" and the team led by helmsman Johannes Müller. On the return leg, Gerhard Clausen's team turned the size and speed of their Maxi Dolphin 75 "Calypso" into a calculated victory.
In the International ORC Championship, several teams were able to turn the tide in their favour on Sunday and establish a new pecking order ahead of the next three races on Monday: Helmsman Gordon Nickel and the crew on Axel Seehafer's X-41 "Sportsfreund" took the lead in ORC I and II with third, third and first places ahead of Jens Kuphal's modified Landmark 43 "Intermezzo" and Michael Berghorn's long-distance winner "Halbtrocken 4.5". In ORC III, Kai Mares and his team on the Italia 9.98 "Immac Fram" replaced Knut Freudenberg's team on the First 36.7 at the head of the field. In ORC IV, Jan Schmidt's Melges 24 OD "Bostik Bad Boys" remained the measure of all things.
The first international half of Kiel Week in the dinghy classes will continue on the courses in Strander Bucht until Tuesday. Here, Kiel Week record winner Wolfgang Hunger (22 titles!) and skipper Holger Jess are the stars on the water. After the first six races, the duo from Strande and Eckernförde were back in the lead. After the pair had been annoyed by a broken block, a lack of speed and themselves on day one, things went according to plan again on the second day with individual first, first and third places. Local hero Hunger thanked the Kieler Woche organisers for their tireless commitment in these difficult times: "It's great that Kieler Woche can take place and that so many people have been involved in making it possible."
Here to see the results of the 126th Kiel Week.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
