For the sea sailors it is very similar to the Olympians: On the way to the Sailing World Championships in the Netherlands in July, Kiel Week is on the direct route for the German and Scandinavian crews - just as Kiel is on course for Aarhus for the Olympic sailors. Organised as the Baltic Pre-Worlds (also known to many as the Kiel Cup), the ambitious teams logically use the up-and-down races of Kiel Week as compact preparation for the World Championships. The first three races on the Stollergrund on Monday were sailed with corresponding commitment. And the conditions, with shifting winds and difficult waves, were ideal for testing the boats' performance. The "Halbtrocken 4.0" of Michael Berghorn (Kiel) in the large boats (ORC I+II) and the "Immac Fram" of Kai Mares (Dänischenhagen) in the ORC III+IV yacht class already look well prepared for the highlight of the season.
After a good start to the series, Torsten Bastiansen (Flensburg) had to retire with the "Sydbank" (ORC I+II) in the third race of the day. After the backstay broke, the crew decided to repair the damage on land. This put the "Halbtrocken 4.0" in the top position. Third place went to Kirsten Harmstorf-Schönwitz' women's crew on "Tutima", who particularly enjoy the short races on the up-and-down course and have their sights set on improving crew work.
Kai Mares and his crew on "Immac Fram" consider themselves to be well positioned in this area. After winning the Swedish championship over Whitsun, the Italia yacht is now also setting the bar for the competition off Kiel. "It went very well today with 1st, 1st and 2nd place. The training partnership with the guys from 'OneSpirit' is working," said Mares. "It was challenging sailing today with lots of turns. But the race committee had everything under control, worked quickly and laid out reasonably long courses. We are on the right track for the World Championship in three weeks' time. However, we don't want to make any predictions for this, as both measurement formulas will be scored together for the first time. And we don't have any empirical values for IRC yet. So it will be exciting." Following in the wake of the Mares crew is the sister ship, skipper Gordon Nickel's "OneSpirit". In recent days, Germany's most successful sailor, Jochen Schümann, has acted as coach. "It's nice to be back in Kiel, even if only as an observer on board. But it's good to see how confidently the boys are working." With 3rd, 2nd and 1st place, the Nickel crew also left the reigning European champions from the Swedish "Pro4U" behind them.
Not everything went smoothly for the ClubSwan 50 yachts sailing their first short races for the Nord Stream Race on the Stollergrund. On Sunday, they will set off on the long leg to St. Petersburg in several stages. Kris Houmann's Danish crew still have some work to do on board and ashore. The crew ran over their own sail during the spinnaker manoeuvre, were only able to bring the light cloth back on board with various tears and are now hoping that the sailmakers will have repaired everything by Sunday. The German team led by Hendrik Brandis (NRV Hamburg) initially took the lead in the fleet of five identical yachts with three victories in the three races.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
