• The week in pictures
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Dear readers,

I've shed a few tears of laughter this week. And I have to admit: It felt really good at a time when so many things tend to bring sad tears to my eyes. At the beginning of the week, we started with the first training pictures of the German team at the new national competition SSL Gold Cup. The world's best sailing nation will be determined in the waters off Las Palmas de Gran Canaria until 2 December. The major event, which has already been postponed twice, has attracted sailing celebrities from all over the world to the Canary Islands. 25 Olympic medallists, America's Cup greats, ocean veterans - sailors from two generations enjoyed competing with and against each other.

Not all of the sailors, who were originally electrified around the world, were able to take part in this summit meeting due to planning uncertainties and the short notice of the date. Nevertheless, many stars made the SSL Gold Cup an attractive sailing sport show. In addition to plenty of sailing celebrities, the "look" of the teams, the shiny gold boats and the format contributed to curious glances and a volley of comments. Because the SSL Gold Cup is deliberately modelled on the format and appearance of world football - the official motto is "The first football World Cup - in sailing" - the fans and the sailors themselves had to get used to the sight and wearing of long knee-high socks, jerseys and flapping shorts, as they are otherwise known from the world's number one sport.

Kick it like Beckham, you wanted to shout at them. For some tradition-conscious spectators, however, the sight was hard to bear. A no-go from the point of view of the sailing establishment. In jest, there were even calls for a petition against this kind of "disguise at sea". Others were amused by the tight calves of the German team members clad in white stockings. Of course, it was pure coincidence that the carnival season officially began in Germany on 11 November, one day after the first kick-off of the SSL Gold Cup.

Fashionistas reminded us that knee-high socks are hip again. Although this trend is more likely to be seen among female fashionistas. Two-time Olympic 49erFX champion and round-the-world sailor Martine Grael looked good in the long yellow stockings. While the Portuguese took the cake with their grass-green calf dresses, the Australians hardly looked out of the ordinary with their shades of blue and stars on their shirts. However, many spectators simply recognised the uniform football outfits of the sailors on board as clearly visible and distinguishable team clothing. German team captain Frithjof Kleen made it clear: "I think the football kit is totally cool! At last, even those who don't know much about sailing can understand and follow the national competition at a glance."

The point goes to Kleen.

And then there were these boats! They were seriously rushing over the waves in sparkling gold foil. That wasn't to everyone's taste either, but the boats were photogenic and very fast, as the crews unanimously assured us. Anyone who has seen the latest episodes of the German crime TV series "Babylon Berlin" may, like me, have been unable to get the melody of Max Rabe's "Ein Tag wie Gold" out of their head. I was constantly humming "A boat like gold" to myself...

Then I asked myself: Is the SSL Gold Cup as visually "over the top" as some of my colleagues think? I think that remains a matter of taste. The fact is that the organisers have very consciously broken with a number of sailing traditions that I also love. Yes, if I may take my pick, regatta boats wear elegantly understated paintwork in the style of a beautiful J-Class yacht or are lucky enough to have their sponsors send them out on the course with reasonably attractive logos and colours. For me too, teams are best dressed functionally and simply, which the French or Italians often manage with an extra touch of chic. See America's Cup teams such as France's Orient Express or Patrizio Bertelli's Cup chasers from Team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. In any case, the range of maritime fashion clothing options is huge, even at the highest performance level.

So does it really have to be football shirts, flutter shorts and fine ribbed stockings made of synthetic fibres? It's amazing how quickly you got used to this look when watching the broadcasts from Gran Canaria. And how well you could actually tell the teams apart in battle. The strong football references were made to drag sailing out of its media niche and put it in the spotlight.

In sporting terms, the new event, which has been years in the making, is impressive. "It was a lot of fun to work with an all-German team. I hope we can be there again next time," said Paul Kohlhoff. German team captain Frithjof Kleen went one better: "It would be a tragedy if this event was not continued. It is the world-class national competition that sailing has been missing." This was also emphasised by Tim Kröger, coach of the German team that was eliminated in the quarter finals: "Strong players from the Olympics, the America's Cup, the 52 Super Series and the J-Class came together here to form national teams. It was also a huge opportunity for the so-called "Emerging Nations", up-and-coming sailing countries, to compete with the best in the sailing world. That's why we shouldn't talk too disrespectfully about the initially unfamiliar football kit. It did contribute a little to the overall feeling of the national teams."

A few boat lengths behind after the dramatic course of the last and decisive quarter-final race cost Team Germany a place in the semi-finals of the SSL Gold Cup. In sporting and human terms, however, the team will take a lot home with them from this unusual sailing summit just before Christmas.

It won't be boring in the coming weeks after Germany's exit. We can turn our attention to other highlights. Boris Herrmann started his first major solo race of the year on 30 November and will be heading back to Lorient for the Retour à La Base from Martinique, where he will be sailing solo with his "Malizia - Seaexplorer" on the Vendée Globe 2024/2025 course. The 2nd pre-regatta for the 37th America's Cup will be held this weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. One weekend later, Thomas Riedel and Sebastian Vettel's Germany SailGP team with helmsman Erik Heil will be challenged in Dubai on 9 and 10 December. In January, the new year, which is packed with world highlights like never before, begins with the Ilca 7 World Championship in Adelaide, Australia. Philipp Buhl, 2020 Laser World Champion, and Nik Willim want to be among the front runners. The extraordinary sailing year will then approach its three major highlights in the second half of the year with exciting national Olympic competitions and other challenges: the Olympic regatta off Marseille in the summer, the America's Cup with the German teams for the Youth and Puig Women's Amerca's Cup in late summer and autumn off Barcelona and the Vendée Globe, in which Boris Herrmann will start for the second time on 10 November.

What other sport do you know that offers such variety, so many different and highly interesting players and so much excitement?

I am very much looking forward to 2024 and the increasingly intensive reporting for you and you - together with the YACHT team!

Tatjana Pokorny,

YACHT sports expert

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The week in pictures:

Recommended reading from the editorial team:

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