The conditions on the first two days of racing at Kiel Week could hardly have been more different. The picture-book start on Saturday was followed by the big wind lottery on Sunday, which offered the crews in the 16 international boat classes a mix of calm, gybes, sun, rain and thunderstorms. German crews are in the lead in seven classes.
Due to the strong westerly winds of 22 to 27 knots, gusting to 30 to 40 knots, the race committee decided to cancel all races for today - except for one. The sailors completed a shortened race in Strander Bucht in order to stay on schedule for the German Championship.
Review of the weekend:
Organisation manager Jobst Richter and Seebahn boss Eckhard von der Mosel are friendly and cheerful people. On Saturday, the two of them even walked around the Schilksee harbour apron with a permanent smile on their faces. The reason: the beautiful weather. "A dream day," Richter exulted in view of the sunshine and the four to five force winds at the start of the Kiel Week regatta.
Yesterday, however, the crews in the international boat classes needed strong nerves rather than strong muscles. Because the wind was sometimes blowing at one Beaufort, then at four, then not at all the next moment. And it was constantly changing direction. A number of spins caused the race to be cancelled and the courses to be redesigned. "But it wasn't really that bad," said Richter. With the exception of dragons and H-boats, all classes got two races in the classification, 29ers and Contenders even three.
Seven German crews are wearing the leader's yellow jersey. Among them is Markus Wieser's team. He received his brand new Pettigrew kite on Friday, so training was out of the question. But Wieser no longer needs to. "I have so much experience in the kite, it's fine," says Wieser, who found yesterday "unpredictable". Nevertheless, the man from Munich found a formula for success. After a total of four races (places 1, 1, 8, 3), Wieser, who is competing for the Ukraine ("My Ukrainian co-sailor Sergei Purgatchev, to whom I sold my kite, wanted to have the 'UKR' in his sail"), leads with 13.0 points, just ahead of his "compatriot" Lars Hendriksen (Ukraine, 14.0).
Wolfgang Hunger is once again at the head of the field in the 505. Together with his new "Scotsman" Julien Kleiner, the orthopaedic surgeon from Strande is heading towards his 16th Kiel Week triumph with a large lead. A local hero is also leading the way in Europe. However, Sönke Herrmann from Heikendorf (16.0 points) feels the breath of Finland's Aalto Pekka (17.0) breathing down his neck. German dominance in the catamaran classes has so far been confirmed by Jens Goritz (Wyk/Föhr) in the Hobie 16 and Jörg Gosche from Bremen, who is surprisingly ahead of the old masters Helge and Christan Sach (Zarnekau) in the Formula 18. The overall silver medallists Jan Seekamp (Bremen) in the Pirat and Werner Fritz (Prien am Chiemsee) in the H-Boat are also within reach.
The crews on the Alpha course had to show a lot of skill to cope with the wind shifts. Race one was still reasonably consistent. "But especially in the last race, the wind came from all sides. It was almost at the limit," said Dirk Becker from the crew of the "Chinook". The X-332 yacht owned by John Friedrichsen from Flensburg is sailing in the ORC III/IV class for the German Sailing Championship and wants to try and bring Detlef Amlong's perennial winner "Froschkönig" (Optimia101/102) to its knees. After two days of racing, the "Frosch" is still ahead of the "Chinook". "But we want to attack again," says Becker. "The mood is good, the ship is fast."
Christian Plump's "Beluga" (Rodman 42), which is still behind Bernd Kriegel's "Unique" (J/V49) in the ORC I class, will certainly also be in contention. In the ORC II class, Jürgen Klinghardt's "Patent3" (X-332 Sport) is still in the lead.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
