For Philipp Buhl, the first day of the 120th Kiel Week in its 132-year history was not a good day. The 24-year-old two-time Sailor of the Year had to cringe so often that a fan on land later asked him if he had become dizzy. After receiving a yellow flag penalty for unauthorised "body rocking", the Laser world championship bronze medallist had to clear up with two curls in the very first race. However, after a successful race to catch up, the defending champion still managed to finish third in the race. In the second race, Buhl first hit the stern of a competitor because he was unable to drop the sheet in time due to a knot in the sheet. He then collected his second yellow flag during his second race to catch up and had to abandon the race. He knows that a third one would result in his retirement from the Kieler Woche.
"I haven't lost sight of defending my title because of this," said Buhl after the two races. However, he will approach the upcoming races with a little more caution because he can no longer afford to have a strike. The helmsman from the Alpsee-Immenstadt sailing club is looking forward to the second day, because the laser sailors will no longer be sailing on the short TV course in Strander Bucht, but further out. "Speed will also play an important role there on the longer sections," says Buhl, whose mischievous smile quickly returned to his face at this idea. Perhaps Buhl is also right with his tip for the German national football team's second match. A few hours before kick-off of the match against Ghana, the sports soldier from Sonthofen predicted 2:1 in favour of Jogi's boys. And while Buhl was not yet able to shine as a sailor, Tobias Schadewaldt attracted attention. The Olympic bronze medallist in the 49er decided to make a comeback in the Laser at the end of 2013 and sailed to third place on the first day of Kieler Woche in his home waters, finishing fifth and second.
Three other German teams set the first exclamation marks in the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines at the start on Saturday: The 49er sailors Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel sailed to a one-day victory and are fourth for the time being. The two Paralympic silver medallists Heiko Kröger in the 2.4mR and Jens Kroker's team in the Sonar took the lead in their classes. Head of organisation Peter Ramcke drew a first positive interim balance: "It was a successful sporting start with some rough conditions, but also some blue skies."
The fast trimaran "Musandam-Oman Sail" set a record at the start of the "KiWo". The speedy 21 metre long and almost 17 metre wide projectile with Irish skipper Damien Foxhall and German sailors Tim Kröger from Hamburg and Anna Maria Renken from Bremen won the Welcome Race from Kiel to Eckernförde almost in flight, reaching the finish line in initially moderate and later very fresh and gusty conditions after 27.5 nautical miles in just one hour, 47 minutes and 22 seconds as the first of the 127 participating yachts. The Oman ambassador thus beat the previous record of the "SAP Extreme" with Danish skipper Jes-Gram Hansen from last year with top speeds of up to 35 knots by 19 minutes and 28 seconds. Kröger said: "Sailing this boat requires the whole woman and the whole man. It is physically extremely demanding and really almost like flying."
The participants in the International German Sailing Championship also held their first race as part of the Welcome Race. In ORCint I, Harm Müller-Spreer's chartered Carkeek 47 "Platoon" won ahead of the Kiel J/ 49 "Immac One4All" with helmsman Kai Mares and the Swan 56 "Chrila". In ORCint II, the single "Leu" with helmsman Albert Schweizer came out on top. Jens Ellermann's Varianta 44 "Burkh Bremen" sailed to third place ahead of Kalle Dehler's Dehler 38 C "Sporthotel". In the smaller boats, the "Solconia" triumphed with Max Gurgel at the helm. The HSC rocket not only relegated Axel Seehafer's "Sportsfreund" and Knut Freudenberg's "Halbtrocken" to second and third place, but also took first place in the overall ranking of all IDM participants. Race director Stefan Kunstmann praised the Hamburg team's "outstanding performance".
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
