With places never worse than third - and the team led by helmsman Sven Erik Horsch (Hamburg) was able to cross this off after five races - the "König & Cie" sailed to the top of the ten-boat field.
The second day of the European Championship started no less promisingly for Thomas Brügge's "Extasy" (Neumünster). A win on the day, a second place and a seventh place as a string give the "Extasy" crew, which was strengthened by the Danish X-Yachts factory sailor Dan Petersen, hope of a place on the podium.
Roland Gäbler, bronze medallist in the Sydney 2000 Tornado, has joined the third yacht with a German sail number in the field as tactician. "We're sailing with a completely new team, so of course there are ups and downs, but it's a lot of fun in this class," explains Gäbler, whose heart still beats for the Tornados and who could well imagine starting a new Olympic campaign if the twin-hull boats do find their way back to Olympic status.
The extremely well-staffed field of the X35 World Championship was also able to sail three races on the Stollergrund, making a total of five. 33 boats from eleven nations travelled to Kiel to compete for the world championship title in this class for the second time since 2007. Achim Griese (Hamburg) has revised his goal of finishing in the top five after today. Now the helmsman of the "Celox" wants to finish on the podium: "The field is always close together with a very high performance density, but I think we can manage a place in the top three."
But Griese and his crew, currently in fifth place, are still eleven points away from the leading Italians led by helmsman Alessandro Solerio, who secured the world championship title in their own country last year.
At 5 p.m. on the dot, the tall ships in the battle for the "Silver Ribbon" set off on their long haul towards Langeland and later back through Svendborg Sound. The first boats are expected to arrive at the Kiel lighthouse on Friday morning.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
