One of them wants to defend the Kieler Woche title he won in a spectacular duel with compatriot Simon Grotelüschen in 2012, while the other would like it back - in keeping with his Olympic comeback in the Laser class: young European champion Philipp Buhl is challenging double Olympic champion and five-time Olympic medallist Robert Scheidt to a Kieler Woche duel.
The 23-year-old from Allgäu wants to compete with the 40-year-old Brazilian. The two exceptional talents will meet in the top-class Laser field from 22 to 26 June in the Olympic half of Kiel Week, but will also have to keep an eye on a number of other top international sailors in the battle for the title. "The season hasn't started perfectly for me, but I would like to defend my title," said Philipp Buhl, who is one of Germany's greatest Olympic hopes in sailing and wants to lead the "All in Racing" team into the Youth America's Cup at the beginning of September. The young star said at the Kieler Woche press conference: "Kiel is always something special for me, it's home territory. The way sailing is presented here is unique in the world."
In addition to the summit meeting of the generations between Buhl and Scheidt, there are other fascinating duels, triathlons and quadrangles that could thrill the fans at the 119th Kiel Week, who will be informed and entertained with live broadcasts and commentaries in the Olympic Centre. This applies both to the Olympic disciplines, in which almost the entire national team, Sailing Team Germany, will be competing, and to the international classes in the second half of Kiel Week, in which the challenging 505 class is likely to sail into the limelight: World Champion and Kieler Woche record winner Wolfgang Hunger will be attempting to add another victory to his record of 20 titles alongside foreship Julien Kleiner. But it's not just the reigning Hamburg world champions Claas Lehmann and Leon Oehme who want to put a stop to Hunger's high flying - the European champions Meike Schomäker and Holger Jess, who have so often been successful off Kiel, also want to put a stop to Hunger alongside other strong 505 crews.
The radically changed regulations for the Olympic disciplines are new at this Kiel Week and are designed to prevent premature victories and ensure excitement right to the end: After the preliminary and main rounds, only the six best teams will make it through to the medal final, taking all their performances up to that point as an average race result. This means that each of the six teams starts the final race with a chance of winning.
In the 131st year since the premiere of the world's largest regatta series, around 4500 participants from 50 countries are expected. In addition to the smaller dinghies and keelboat classes, the "BigBoats" will also be in action for eight days. Among the prominent participants is Olympic champion and America's Cup winner Jochen Schümann, who is coming to the Baltic Sea for the first time with the 100-foot maxi yacht "Esimit" and will take part in the opening race from Kiel to Eckerförde. Kiel Week ends on 30 June after a total of nine regatta days.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
