For nine days, around 3300 athletes from more than 50 countries characterised, enlivened and enjoyed Kiel Week. A new enthusiasm could be felt at the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre that has not been seen in recent years. The reasons for this are manifold: the broad programme ranged from international and Olympic classes to challenging sailing, the Junior World Championship of the Olympic 470 class, the outstanding J70 European Championship with 91 starters, the International German Championships and the celebrity regatta with a high fun factor.
In addition to the committed organisers, not only strong partners such as Audi with an expanded range of services for visitors, but also many class associations contributed to the visible and audible increase in satisfaction among participants. For example, the Regatta Association for Sea Sailing with its new board, which successfully introduced new ideas into the regatta format for sea sailors and also organised joint activities on land. Stanislav Kassarov, President of the International 470 Class Association, said: "The media coverage and presentation of Kiel Week is incredibly impressive. You can't find anything like it anywhere else in the world." He was referring in particular to the live broadcasts in the Audi Sailing Arena, which fascinated thousands every day.
Seven titles in Olympic and Paralympic classes
The national sailing team provided some good news this week, winning seven titles in the Olympic and Paralympic classes. Although not all disciplines were high-calibre so close to the Olympic Games, the victories were good news and boosted Germany's hopes for Rio. Vice world champion and active speaker Philipp Buhl from Sonthofen won his fourth title on the fjord on Sunday, 43 days before the first Olympic starting shot.
Catamaran sailors Paul Kohlhoff and Carolina Werner secured their second Kiel Week title. The young Nacra crew celebrated the helmsman's 21st birthday on the final day and can hope to be nominated for the Olympics by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) after fulfilling the qualification requirements. The Rio starters Ferdinand Gerz and Oliver Szymanski also achieved victory number two at Kieler Woche in the 470 regatta, which was held jointly for men's and women's crews due to a lack of numbers. Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke, who lost out in the national Olympic qualifiers, won ahead of Rio starters Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz. As expected, New Zealand's Olympic favourites Peter Burling and Blair Tuke triumphed in the 49er ahead of Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme from Kiel.
The Finn Dinghy was won by Phillip Kasüske from Berlin, who did not qualify for the Olympics. Max Kohlhoff from Kiel sailed to third place. 2.4mR helmsman Heiko Kröger and the Sonar crew with helmsman Lasse Klötzing won the Paralympic classes. Head of organisation Dirk Ramhorst could see how pleased he and his team were with the good atmosphere in the harbour, which was boosted by the exceptionally good weather on almost all days. Ramhorst said: "This Kiel Week was a picture-book sailing event. It shows us the way into the future and for our comeback in the World Cup. We have already started the debriefing and are examining in detail where we can make further improvements."
German crews miss out on medals at Junior World Championships in the 470s
Malte Winkel and Matti Cipra from the Schwerin Yacht Club, who had long been on course for a medal at the Junior World Championship for 470 sailors, had to be satisfied with seventh place in the end after a false start, a lost protest and the corresponding disqualification. World Championship gold went to Keiju Okada and Naoya Kimura from Japan on the final day of Kiel Week. In the junior category, Frederike Loewe and Anna Markfort from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee missed out on the medal they were aiming for by just two points in fourth place overall. The J70 European Championship was won by the Italian Claudia Rossi and her team on "Petite Terrible" ahead of Stefano Roberti's team from the Yacht Club Monaco and the Spanish team led by Gonzalo Araújo. The mood was only briefly dampened by the fact that more than 30 boats in one of the two groups were disqualified on the final day due to early starts under a black flag. The sailors would have liked a less drastic reaction here.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
