The best was saved for last in the Kiel Cup: on Wednesday, Kiel Week provided the crews on the sea-going yachts with the best conditions for champagne sailing. "Five forces of wind and sunshine, simply marvellous," reported race director Peter Doepgen. After an up and down, the Kieler Woche crews were able to enjoy another coastal race at the same location in preparation for the ORC World Championship in August.
We prefer the Up & Downs, but the Coastal Race today was fun" (Torsten Bastiansen)
Medium-distance formats such as this Kiel Week will also be part of the World Championship regatta programme. In the Kiel Cup, the smaller yachts in the ORC C&D group were sent on a twelve-nautical mile course and the larger yachts in ORC A&B were sent on an 18-nautical mile race. Both starting groups set off from Stollergrund.
"We prefer the up and downs, but the coastal race today was fun: long cross and long spinnaker courses. Sailing under spinnaker at 20 knots at times was very exciting," summarised Torsten Bastiansen from Flensburg. His X-35 "Xen" came second in the ORC C&D group. The "Xen" skipper said: "Today we were shown one or two shortcomings in the trim. We were also sailing without a tactician, so we didn't always hit the laylines. But overall we are happy."
I think we have now reached 85 per cent of our potential" (Kai Mares)
In preparation for the World Championships in August, the comparison with the Kiel Cup winner "Immac Fram" sailed by and with Kai Mares from Dänischenhagen paid off. Torsten Bastiansen explained: "They are a top team. But we also showed that they can be beaten if we don't make any mistakes." The X-35 "Freya" from the Kieler Yacht-Club was only narrowly beaten into third place. Thanks to a strong final day, the young crew led by skipper Nick Heuwinkel drew level with the "Xen" on points, but was unable to win the day, which made the difference. A strong final day, especially under spinnaker, brought the "Freya" third place on the podium in the Kiel Cup of the ORC C&D group.
The clear winner of Group C&D was the Italia 9.98 "Immac Fram" with five daily victories in a total of eight races. Kai Mares said: "I think we have now reached 85 per cent of our potential. That was also the objective for Kieler Woche in preparation for the World Championships. We are already very good in terms of boat speed and trim. We can still improve our starts. Now we want to improve the details for the German Championship during Travemünde Week." The skipper and helmsman said after the victorious pleasure final: "Great! You don't even get conditions like this on Mallorca."
It was one of the best sailing days in a long time. Sun, warmth, wind - what more could we want?" (Michael Berghorn)
In the group of large yachts, the Danish ClubSwan 42 "Sirena" (Peter Buhl) was relegated to the runner-up positions by Michael Berghorn's Kiel Mills 45 Custom "Semi-dry 4.5" in the final two races. However, this did not change the overall victory of the Danes, who scored points above all with consistency and a total of three race wins. "Halbtrocken 4.5" skipper Berghorn was also happy in second place on Wednesday: "It was one of the best sailing days for a long time: sun, warmth, wind - what more could we want? In the meantime, we saw over 20 knots of speed and also took two first places. Truly a dream day!"
The fact that it was not enough to win Kieler Woche was due to the previous days, when the "Halbtrocken 4.5" came eighth and eleventh in agonising light winds. "That can't happen to us at the World Championships. We still have a few metres to go before then. But all in all, we are satisfied with Kiel Week," said Berghorn.
First match race, then material breakage
The modified Landmark 43 "Intermezzo" crew led by Jens Kuphal from Berlin slipped back one place to third in the final, although overall victory was still within reach in the morning. "That's just sailing," said Kuphal. He continued: "The 'Sirena' had a little match race with us and we didn't really get away at the start."
Then a torn tackline on the jib and the breakage of the downhaul stopped the "Intermezzo" in the Coastal Race. The repairs cost valuable minutes. "We weren't able to make up for them," said Kuphal, "we also made a few changes to the boat during the winter and still have some homework to do. But it was the first regatta of the year for us. Overall, it was great sailing."
