Kieler Woche: The first winners are already celebrating

Paul Kohlhoff and Carolina Werner still have to compete in the medal race on Wednesday. But the first Kiel Week victory of their career was already mathematically out of reach for the young Nacra 17 sailors from Kiel the evening before. Even though there was no world-class field at the start, this title is valuable for Kohlhoff and Werner. They have shown that they are already up to the role of favourites and with the Kiel Week gold they have picked up a big motivation boost for the World Championships starting on 4 July in Aarhus, Denmark.

Paul Kohlhoff said: "We're delighted with the title, but we're keeping our feet on the ground, because the big goal of the season is just around the corner." At the Nacra 17 World Championships in Denmark, the young team, which has improved impressively in recent months both athletically and technically thanks to the support of many experts such as two-time Olympian Marc Pickel, is primarily concerned with securing the as yet unsecured national starting place for Germany in the new Olympic mixed catamaran class. Kohlhoff/Werner see the conditions off Aarhus, which are very similar to those in their home and now also winning area off Kiel, as a plus for their "mission Olympic starting place".

Seven other German teams can still go for Kiel Week titles in four Olympic disciplines on Wednesday. Kiel's Justus Schmidt and Max Böhme, who are leading the Olympic 49er by 10.5 points, kept their chance of beating their favourite team-mates and European champions Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel at the national team's home event. On the other hand, Heil/Plößel would have to be six places higher than Schmidt/Böhme in the final to catch their sparring partners. Laser leader Tobias Schadewaldt from Oldenburg maintained his lead in the Olympic single-handed class with a nine-point advantage over Denmark's Michael Hansen. Paralympics winner Heiko Kröger can still overtake 2.4mR leader Bjørnar Erikstad from Norway and reach for his eighth Kiel Week title. And finally, all three German 49er FX women's crews also have the opportunity to attack the Dutch pair Bekkering/Bramervaer, who have been in the lead so far.

Whilst the Big Boats had to take a break on Tuesday due to flat seas, the German Open of the J70 and the Pre-Worlds of the J80 sailors had already come to an end. Although they had only been able to sail two of the four days of their regatta, they were exciting. In the end, Martin Menzner's KYC crew won the J80 regatta after six races with a five-point lead over Björn Beilken's team from Bremen. Third place went to Sven Vagt's SKWB team. In the fleet of 30 J70 yachts, Hugo Rocha's Spanish crew from Club Nautic Areyns came out on top against Hubert Merkelbach's team from Bodensee Yacht-Club Überlingen. Third place went to the BSC crew skippered by Claas Lehmann. The big yachts will finish the Kiel Cup regatta on Wednesday with the last races. Race director Stefan Kunstmann is planning at least three, if possible even four races for the final.