The 127th Kieler Woche is underway!: Fifth German World Championship victory in the Star: Gold for Negri/Kleen!

For the fifth time in the glittering history of the Starboat World Championships, a German sailor has won the coveted trophy, which has already been held by the greatest sailors in the sport such as "Mister America's Cup" Dennis Conner, Buddy Melges, Paul Cayard, Torben Grael, Robert Scheidt and Iain Percy: Italian Diego Negri and his Berlin bowman Frithjof Kleen won the world title in the keelboat class, which was Olympic until 2012, just one day before the final! With 4th, 1st, 1st, 1st and 2nd place in five races so far, the binational duo secured victory. Willy Kuhweide/Karsten Meyer (1972), Alex Hangen/Vincent Hoesch (1981), Alex Hagen/Marcelo Ferreira (1997) and Kleen himself with helmsman Robert Stanjek (2014) had previously won the Star World Championship for Germany.

"This title means a lot to me. Winning in Kiel is always something very special. The competition is still strong, the boat challenges you enormously in terms of trim, technique and athleticism," said skipper Frithjof Kleen a few minutes after his team's happy last finish. The 38-year-old 2012 Olympic sixth-placer with Robert Stanjek told YACHT online: "I was actually already thinking before the World Championship that it would be best for us if we could win the title one day before the end. My helmsman Diego Negri has already finished second in the World Championship three times, is now 50 years old and finally had to do it! His nerves often didn't hold out on the last day. Now he has proved that he can hold his nerve. He is a clever sailor who takes few risks. That was perfect in this series. I'm really happy for him too!" Immediately after crossing the finish line, the German-Italian team was celebrated on the water by friends and fans, including two-time Starboat Olympian and successful 49er coach Marc Pickel. Click here for the results of the 99th Starboat World Championship off Kiel (please click!).

Shortened by two cancelled days and generally characterised by very light winds, the 99th World Championship summit meeting of the keelboat class, which continues to perform well even after the controversial Olympic cancellation, has attracted 82 crews from 18 nations to Kiel. The final World Championship medal decisions will be made on Saturday as part of the 127th Kieler Woche, which is also sailing towards its final weekend in the other current classes. The iQFoil aces will be celebrating the comeback of Olympic surfing on the fjord after a nine-year break.

The German high-flyer on the scene is Sebastian Kördel. The man from Lake Constance, who, like his girlfriend Helena Wanser, who also surfs iQFoil, competes for the North German Regatta Club and trains in Tarifa, Spain, had already blown away the competition on the first day with four wins and a second place on the first day. The athletes initially foiled across the Baltic Sea at a speed of 22 knots, but with the right winds and without the September seaweed in Kiel, they can go much faster. Cameraman Eike Schurr, who recently worked with the Austrian The Ocean Race team, among others, reported with a smile in Kiel that his camera drone is sometimes required to reach top speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour to get the best view of the speeding new Olympians from above. Kördel said in Kiel: "It is an important sign that we are already here in Kiel this time. The thrilling videos from the kick-off should have left a positive impression." Here are the intermediate results of the classes that are challenged in the second half of Kiel Week (please click!).