Kieler Woche: Mixed start

On the first day of the Sailing World Cup, the German squad sailors shone with top results that give reason to hope for the overall classification of the series, which runs until Wednesday.

Saturday

In the 49er skiffs, last year's winners Lennart Briesenick-Pudenz/Morten Massmann (Flensburg) showed that their World Cup victory last year was no fluke. With top results in the four races, they are in fifth place and within striking distance of the overall leaders John Pink/Rick Peacock (Great Britain). Even better placed than Briesenick-Pudenz/Massmann, however, are Julian Ramm/Oliver Lewin from Kiel, who are in third place overall with a win on the day. "It was nice to finally be sailing in more wind again. We've had weaker winds recently, but the weather is just getting worse in time for Kieler Woche. It went very well for us," reported Lewin, who, like the Flensburg crew, has set his sights on the European Championship in Gdynia, Poland, at the beginning of July. "The aim there is to finish in the top 16 in order to fulfil the B squad criterion. Kieler Woche is a good preparation for this, as only four or five teams from the top 20 in the world rankings are missing," said Morten Massmann, who has set himself the goal of defending his title at Kieler Woche: "If you start here, you want to win, otherwise you wouldn't be there," said Massmann.

The German star boats are also doing well. This time, however, it is not the newly crowned European champions Johannes Polgar/Markus Koy (Hamburg) who lead the German fleet, but the Berlin team Matthias Miller/Benedikt Wenk in second place. Only two-time Olympic champion Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (Brazil), who have won Kiel Week three times in the Laser and are now hoping for success in the Star, are ranked ahead of them. "Kiel Week is a great event and winning here is always difficult. I narrowly failed twice in the Star. It's just a very tough regatta at a high level." Matthias Miller is very happy with his current position: "We like the strong wind. That's why it went very well for us." Johannes Polgar, currently in third place, was exhausted after the two races: "It was really hard work after the weak winds at the European Championships." An early start, after which they had to restart, cost the Hamburg team a better position. Johannes Babendererde/Timo Jacobs (Lübeck/Kiel) fared even worse, having to retire from the second race after finishing second in the opening race after bending their mast and tearing the luff extrusion of the jib. "The boat was a real building site," said Timo Jacobs.

Simon Grotelüschen, a medical student from Kiel, is also in top form, finishing second overall in the Laser field in the 1, 2, 5 series behind the outstanding Tom Slingsby (Australia). For Grotelüschen, who has just sailed to seventh place at the European Championships, this is confirmation of his current good form: "I interrupted my studies last summer to concentrate on preparing for 2012. We trained hard in the winter. So far the good results have been a little slow, so it's all the better that it worked out for the European Championships and is now going so well for Kieler Woche." European Championship fourth-placed Philipp Buhl (Sonthofen) rounded off the good German Laser result so far in fourth place.

In the Paralympic 2.4 mR, defending champion Heiko Kröger (Hamburg) is in third place and with two winners on the day, Dutchman Thierry Schmitter has the lead here.

In the other classes, however, the Germans still have some catching up to do. In the Laser, Lisa Fasselt (Kiel) is the best German in fourth place, with Tatiana Drozdovskaya from Belarus leading the field. Surfer Moana Delle (Kiel) has also not really got going yet: "I messed up the start twice and even had to do a curl once. Overall, after a long break from competition, I still have to get back into the regatta properly," said the defending champion, who is still in the top ten in eighth place. However, the leader Olga Maslivets (Ukraine) is already far behind with three victories. The situation is similar in the men's surfing, where Spain's Ivan Pastor leads with three wins, while Toni Wilhelm (Kiel) has to make do with ninth place.

Jan Kurfeld (Wismar) was not quite able to continue his strong start in the Finn. After a win on the day, he slipped to ninth place overall. Ivan Gaspic (Croatia) leads the field here.

As expected, Mathew Belcher/Malcom Page (Australia) are at the top of the 470 with a flawless series; Morten Bogacki/Jens Steinborn (Düsseldorf) are the best Germans in ninth place. In the women's event, however, the Germans Annina Wagner/Marlene Steinherr (Berlin) in third and Kathrin Kadelbach/Friederike Belcher (Berlin) in fourth have their eye on the lead with Sarah Ayton/Saskia Clark (Great Britain).

The picture is still mixed in the women's match race, where the only German crew led by Silke Hahlbrock (Hamburg) has recorded one win and one loss in two races, leaving everything open for the rest of the race.

Sunday Contrasting programme: Only the surfers and the 49er and 2.4mR sailors managed a few races on the course. On the other hand, the sun made for a pleasant atmosphere.

The race officers on the courses had a difficult job to do. "We would probably have sailed best in the harbour, where the wind was good. There was very little on the outer courses. But the surfers were quick on the water and still managed to make some progress. The 49ers were at least able to sail a race in the inner lane, and the 2.4s sail in any weather anyway," said chief race officer Jobst Richter.

After a mixed start on Saturday, the German surfers got off to a better start on the second day. Toni Wilhelm (Kiel) recorded a third and a second place and moved up to sixth place in the overall ranking, which is led by Frenchman Julien Bontemps. Moana Delle (Kiel) also climbed up the rankings with a third place and is in seventh place, lurking in second place, while the leader Olga Maslivets (Ukraine) is already well ahead of the rest of the fleet.

"I've only really been back on the water since April, as I was writing my master's thesis before that," reported Wilhelm. "Since then, I've worked a lot with the French and Greeks. It's already looked pretty good in training. Now the regatta results still have to develop. The target competition is the World Championships in Denmark in September. Then I would like to achieve a top ten place as an A squad criterion." Fellow surfer Moana Delle admitted that it will be difficult to defend the Kieler Woche title this year in view of the strong field: "But it's also fun to compete against the top people. Third place today was great. Yesterday I still found it a bit difficult to switch to the competition situation after training over the past few weeks. My head wasn't alert enough, especially at the start and during the barrel manoeuvres. But after today this phase is over."

Heiko Kröger in the 2.4 mR, on the other hand, was a little sleep-deprived. Although last year's winner started with a win on the day, he then had to pay tribute to his lack of sleep. In addition to his own sailing activities, this was due to his organisational duties with the newly founded Audi Sailing Team Germany. "We've had a lot to do over the past few nights with getting the boats ready," explained Kröger, who is in fourth place on the list after six races. Megan Pascoe (Great Britain) has established herself in front.

There was also a setback for the German 49ers. The strong gusts on Saturday suited the teams much better. Last year's winners Lennart Briesenick-Pudenz/Morten Massmann (Flensburg) and the Kiel local heroes Julian Ramm/Oliver Lewin both took their strike results in the weak breeze on Sunday. However, in ninth (Ramm/Lewin) and tenth overall, they still have a chance to be in the medal race of the top ten on Wednesday. Class mate Tobias Schadewaldt is currently struggling with completely different problems. He was caught under the boat when it capsized off Mallorca in February and was only able to free himself with the help of his partner Hannes Baumann. Since then, he has not been sailing without fear. "My heart rate quickly reaches 200, unconsciously what happened is still playing a part. It's difficult for me at the moment," said Schadewaldt, who is in 26th place.

The other Olympic classes were unable to sail yesterday. A little to the chagrin of Star European Champion Johannes Polgar (Hamburg), who had started the day full of confidence: "I slept well and today is our wind," he explained before setting off, only to return to the harbour later on together with co-sailor Markus Koy without doing anything. For Johannes Babendererde/Timo Jacobs (Lübeck/Kiel), the break in sailing gave them the chance to test their equipment. They had bent their mast on Saturday after problems with the backstay and had to put up a new one during the night.

Thanks to the enforced break, the 470 women, who have been badly hit for a long time, can continue to enjoy their top placings. Annina Wagner/Marlene Steinherr (Berlin) are in third place, directly ahead of their national rivals Kathrin Kadelbach/Friederike Belcher (Berlin). "After the retirement of Ulrike Schümann, with whom I sailed match racing last year, I'm concentrating fully on the 470 again," said Kadelbach, whose foresailor Friederike Belcher, who has both German and Australian citizenship, has decided in favour of the German association. After disputes with the Australian association in 2008, she is now free to join the German team. "I have served my suspension period. And it's the right decision for me to compete for Germany. Because it simply works perfectly with Kathrin, and such a constellation is rare," said Belcher, whose Australian husband leads the 470 men's field.

Sea railway Good conditions prevailed on the newly set up sea course for the yacht unit classes off Wendtorf. All seven classes were allowed on the course for two races. With Martin Menzner from Kiel (J80), Andreas Beckmann from Hamburg (Streamline) and the Geltingen crew led by Michael Schulz (X99), there are four German leaders here.
In contrast, the long-distance sailors had a difficult time in the welcome race from Kiel to Eckernförde and back again. This was because the 121 yachts got stuck in the doldrums on the return journey. Nevertheless, the mood was good. "The atmosphere in Eckernförde on Saturday was great. The ships were moored in packs on the pier and the sailors and sailors mingled to form a nice party," said a delighted Eckhard von der Mosel, responsible for the sailors at Kieler Woche.

Calculated in the group of large ORC boats, the "Beluga Sailing Team" of Christian Plump (Bremen) won the outward race to Eckernförde ahead of the new X-50 "Bajazzo" of Sven Zoller (Hamburg). Werner Jensen's "Speedy Gonales" from the Schilkseer Yacht Club lived up to its name in the ORC II group. Hardly expected by insiders, the "Froschkönig" of Detlef Amlong (Schwedeneck) took home the victory in the ORC III/IV group.