The stormy winds took their toll at the start of the 120th Kiel Week. On Monday, a female sailor and two sailors from three different yachts had to be rescued on the sea lanes in winds of 5 to 6 Beaufort. The female sailor on board the "Immac All4One" suffered a circulatory collapse and temporarily lost consciousness. After being treated by a doctor on board, she was rescued by the rescue cruiser "Berlin", then handed over to another official vessel and taken to Kiel University Hospital.
At the same time, the DGzRS spokesperson pointed out that these were "routine cases", which may have had varying degrees of drama for those affected, but which occur every year during Kieler Woche. On the "L+M Hispaniola", one sailor was injured during a manoeuvre and was admitted to the Lubinus Clinic in Kiel with a suspected pelvic fracture. A third sailor suffered a head injury and had to be rescued by a Swiss boat.
The J 111 "Piranha" returned from the sea with a broken mast. The two X-332 yachts "Chinook" and "VarunaXpress" did not set sail at all. Both crews had discovered damage from the previous day during routine checks in the morning and decided not to set sail for safety reasons. Dirk Johannsen from the "Chinook" said: "We discovered during a routine inspection this morning that the mast was damaged. We are now out of the race because we no longer have a mast." Eckart von der Mosel, race officer for the sea courses, said in the afternoon: "The wind was 5 to 6 Beaufort at the top end today, but it wasn't too much. In addition, a wave about one and a half metres high had built up because the wind had persisted through the night."
In the Kiel Cup races, the remaining yachts fought exciting battles in sometimes spectacular conditions. Even the outstandingly sailed "Platoon" faltered once. The crew on the Carkeek 47 chartered by Hamburg-based Harm Müller-Spreer fought a close Hanseatic duel with Max Gurgel's Salona 37 RK "Solconia" as they approached a leeward barrel, because the fastest yacht in ORC 1 sailed into the field of smaller boats. When Gurgel's crew closed the gap into which the fast "Platoon" wanted to push, "Platoon" had to take evasive action. In the process, the spinnaker got out of control. The crew had to cut the halyards.
Parallel to the action on the outer courses, the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines also continued their races after an initial postponement of the start in winds that were still challengingly strong and gusty. The 49er crew Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel moved up to first place at the end of the qualification series with a race win. Laser helmsman Philipp Buhl returned to his old strength, moving up to second place after his unsuccessful start with a race win and a second place after the first two final races.
In the Laser Radial, the new European champion Svenja Weger is still looking for ways to sail to the front even in stormy conditions. While Weger was in eighth place after four races, her team-mate Lisa Fasselt from Audi Sailing Team Germany had taken the lead ahead of the favourite Bulgarian Tatiana Drozdovskaya with two wins on the day, a second and a sixth place. In the 470, Anina Wagner/Elisabeth Panuschka sailed to the top of their field with two wins on the day and two second places. In the 2.4mR, Heiko Kröger defended his lead as confidently as Jens Kroker's Sonar team with only first places. The strong German women's crews in the 49er FX class still had to wait for their first start in the late afternoon.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
