With Olympic celebrities, prize money as well as old and new showpiece classes, with national and international title fights, the Kieler Woche organisers want to score points at the 122nd edition of the world's largest regatta week. One month before the start of the sailing show on the Kiel Fjord, the organisers presented their programme at a press conference in Hamburg on Thursday. Around 4000 sailors and around 1500 boats are expected on the Kiel Fjord from 18 to 26 June.
Among them are well-known stars such as the Olympic favourites, world champions and world sailors of the year: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke from New Zealand. The Kiwis, unbeaten in all major 49er title series since 2012, will also meet their German challengers Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel in the skiff off Kiel. For the Berliners, who race for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, it is a welcome opportunity to put their Olympic opponents under pressure once again before the Games on their home turf. In addition to Burling/Tuke, the Australian 470 Olympic champion Mathew Belcher with Will Ryan will be sailing in front of Kiel and add some golden glamour to the regatta. Philipp Buhl, who missed out on his third World Championship medal in Mexico yesterday, is also looking forward to the home event, where he can top up his motivation and training routine with a top result. The majority of the members of the German national sailing team are sailing off Kiel. The Audi Sailing Team Germany is due to bid farewell to Rio at an official event in the Olympic Centre in the late afternoon of 21 June, before the start of the Olympic half of Kiel Week.
In the 134th year of its existence, Kiel wants to return to its origins after the cancellation of the Olympic Games as a partner of the former candidate city of Hamburg. "It's 'back to the roots': it is important for us to take Kieler Woche back to its roots, to what we are good at: Regatta management and regatta sport," said Head of Organisation Dirk Ramhorst. The organisers have not yet been able to announce the number of entries for the Olympic and Paralympic fields ("There is a lot of movement"). However, with reference to the current Olympic year, further losses and in some cases very small fields are expected because many athletes are already training in Rio and Kiel is still unable to attract athletes with World Cup status.
In contrast, the organisation of the European Championship in the J 70 national league class has generated a strong response. The organisers are expecting more than 60 boats to take part. The German Sailing Championship also attracts many larger yachts to Kiel. One reason for the interest is the World Championship off Copenhagen in July. Many teams use Kieler Woche to prepare for the world championships in Denmark in memory of the ORC World Championships two years ago. "We are hoping for correspondingly large fields," said head of sailing Stefan Kunstmann. The two-part Kiel Week begins this year with the international part. The Olympic and Paralympic sailors will start the regatta on Wednesday. The larger yachts will sail throughout Kiel Week. Well-known German professionals such as Boris Herrmann and Jörg Riechers are also taking part. Whether circumnavigator and "Hugo Boss" skipper Alex Thomson will take part in the opening race of Kiel Week as announced has not yet been confirmed.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
