YES! Successful comeback of Europe's young sailing talent off Kiel: Germany's talented sailors want to have fun and step on the gas

The comeback of the Young European Sailings (YES) was a celebration: around 550 young sailors from ten countries met again at the weekend in the former Olympic area off Kiel-Schilksee for their European sailing summit for the first time since the pandemic break. In seven disciplines, the strongly represented young German sailors won six YES titles. Only in the Ilca 4 was a Dane, Mads Wegener, able to prevail against Tom Struwe and Leif Lüders (both Kieler Yacht-Club) in second and third place. Six tickets to the Youth Worlds were also up for grabs in the 29er (W+M), 420er (W+M) and Ilca 6 (W+M) classes. The Ilca 7 (M) and Ilca 7 (W) classes also competed for the International German Junior Championship. The titles were won by Pia Conradi from Duisburger Yacht-Club and Julian Hoffmann from Segelclub Alpsee-Immenstadt. The weather in Kiel ranged from sunshine and total calm at the start to ideal sailing conditions on Sunday. The wind and weather caprices ensured excitement on the water. The varied supporting programme offered plenty of fun on land.

Race director Giesen: "We had the complete wind range"

"You could tell that everyone - the athletes, the organisers, the race committee and the guests - were happy to be able to meet up again. Fair and sporty competitions on the water and lots of fun on land were the hallmarks of the YES 2022 after a two-year break due to coronavirus," said organisation manager Dirk Ramhorst from Kieler Yacht-Club. "We had the full range of wind conditions, from calm at the beginning to ideal sailing conditions between ten and 15 knots on Sunday, when we were able to sail 34 races in ideal conditions in under five hours," reported the chief race officer of the YES regattas, Stephan Giesen (KYC), who also mastered the challenge on Whit Monday and found the right time window with winds of up to 20 knots for the final sprint.

The YES served many young participants from the German Sailing Team or on the way there as preparation for Kiel Week (18 to 26 June), which takes place in twelve days' time, and for the U20 athletes (born 2003 and younger) as a dress rehearsal for the Joint International German Youth Championship (10 to 16 August) off Kiel. In addition, the preliminary decisions were made in six disciplines as to who will represent Germany in the age groups 2004 to 2010 at the Youth Worlds in The Hague (Netherlands) from 8 to 15 July. The ranking according to points has been finalised, but the nomination is still being made by the German Sailing Association's (AfN) Youth Development Committee.

The elimination for the Youth World Championship

A special distinction of the YES series was the qualification for the Youth Worlds of the World Sailing Association (World Sailing) in The Hague (Netherlands) in July. Amaya Escudero (Deutscher Regatta Segelclub) came out on top in the Ilca 6 Juniors after the qualifying series in Workum (Netherlands) and off Kiel. Ole Schweckendiek (Kieler Yacht-Club) dominated the competition in the Ilca 7 juniors. In both cases, the AfN nomination for the Youth Worlds should be a formality. In the junior 420, Amelie Wehrle/Amelie Rinn (Jollensegler Reichenau/Markelfinger Wassersport-Club) won just ahead of Valentina Steinlein/Lea Adolph (Bayerischer Yacht-Club), who had won the first part of the elimination series at the Lupo Cup in Torbole on Lake Garda in Italy. In the event of a tie, the YES regatta will decide. In the 40er for male and mixed crews, Jesper Fleischer/Theo Gnass from Segelclub Rheingau came out on top in the German Youth Worlds elimination. In the 29er, the qualification was made up of the series from the European Cup in the Netherlands and the YES. Jule Ernst/Louisa Schmidt (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club) are likely to start at the Youth Worlds for the girls - if confirmed by the AfN - while Anton and Johann Sach (Lübecker Yacht-Club) dominated the 29er for the boys.

The German team at the Youth Worlds could be completed by IQ foilers and kiteboarders who are nominated without qualification. Candidate in Formula Kite (M) is Jan Vöster, who already took seventh place at the 2021 Youth Worlds in Oman. The 18-year-old from Neuchâtel stands out from the emerging Formula Kite scene. The decision in the Nacra 15 was made a week before Whitsun after qualifying at the European Championships in Carnac (France) and the Dutch Youth Regatta off Workum (Netherlands). Here, however, the results of the German crews were not convincing enough for a recommendation to the AfN.

Six beaming German winning crews in seven disciplines

For three days, the best German junior sailors competed in seven disciplines with athletes from Denmark, Great Britain, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine off Kiel. Despite the capricious weather, with a calm on Saturday and huge gusts on Monday, a total of 54 races were sailed in good conditions at the YES, which is organised by the Kieler Yacht-Club and the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein. The YES regatta victory was secured in the Ilca 6 by Hannah Anderssohn from Warnemünde Sailing Club, who regained her strength. The 23-year-old won the series with a seven-point lead and four first places. "The conditions were fantastic, even if it looked easier from land because the wind had a few shifts," said the Rostock native. Ole Schweckendiek from the Kieler Yacht-CLub was once again the measure of all things in the male brother class. After a slow start, the man from Kiel showed his skills: Four races and four victories were the result on Whitsunday. This was followed by another win on the day and a fourth place. "It was extremely complex today. The wind fluctuated between five and 20 knots," said Schweckendiek. "I'm very satisfied so far. It really couldn't have gone any better," continued the beaming YES winner. The 17-year-old has already won a number of titles and successes in his younger years, has also started successfully this year and is now aiming to defend his title at Kieler Woche.

In the Olympic men's class Ilca 7, 47 young starters entered the race. Julian Hoffmann from Segelclub Alpsee-Immenstadt came out on top in the all-German field and also secured the title of International German Junior Champion 2022. Hoffmann was Young Sailor of the Year in 2018, won the last YES before the pandemic in 2019 and had already achieved success in the previous year. Hoffmann won the U21 European Championship and took third place at the 2021 U21 World Championship. The Ilca-7 sailor continues to operate successfully in the wake of his great role model and club mate Philipp Buhl, 2020 world champion and two-time Olympic participant.

Anton and Johann Sach remain the 29er dominators

The strongest two-handed class before Kiel was the 420s with 78 dinghies. And crews from Switzerland traditionally mingled with the strong German field of participants. Amelie Wehrle/Amelie Rinn (Jollensegler Reichenau/Makelfinger Wassersport-Club) celebrated victory. The 420 competition for male and mixed teams was won by Riccardo Honold/Benedikt Knapp (Stuttgart/Neuried). There was strong competition in the junior 29er skiff. Last year's Kieler Woche winners from Lübeck and IMMAC Young Sailors of the Year 2021, Anton and Johann Sach, have a full programme on their agenda this year. The May opener off Aarhus in Denmark was cancelled due to coronavirus, followed by regattas off Flensburg and the Youth Worlds qualifying series in the Netherlands and now off Kiel. With sixth place in the first qualifying series in the Netherlands and first place off Kiel, the Lübeck team relegated their fiercest rivals in the Youth Worlds qualification and the YES ranking (62 crews from five nations) to second place. Signe Visby Svendsen/Loke Idriss Kise and Gustav and Clement Asholm-Bradley from Denmark took second and third place in the YES classification. The Swedes Felix and Aron Wichert came fourth ahead of the Kiel local heroes Per Christoffer and Carl Frederik Schwall (KYC). Seventh place for the Czech Republic and ninth place for the Netherlands testified to the internationality of this junior class.

The 29er (W) was won by Jule Ernst and Louisa Schmidt (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club), who had already won the first qualifying series. With 29 German crews, the once Olympic single-handed class Europe represented the smallest field. However, the field was able to keep up with the other disciplines in terms of excitement. In the end, the inland waterway specialists came out on top. Sophie Menke (Seglervereinigung Hüde) won ahead of Robert Zink (Segel-Club Stevertalsperre) and Niklas Dahm (Segler-Club Dümmer). With two victories at the end, Menke snatched the YES title from the men by one point. Click here for all YES results (please click!).