Of the total of 15 boat classes on the triangular courses, only one, the youth class 420er, was even held: "Directly under land, the wind had calmed down enough in the evening for us to get at least two races in," explained Dieter Rümmeli, Head of Organisation for Kiel Week.
The participants in the "Aalregatta" from Kiel to Eckernförde, the traditional prelude to the world's largest sailing event, were also battered. Three broken masts, a kinked spreader, various shredded sails and a yacht taking on water after a collision are just the preliminary results of the Kiel-Eckernförde race of the tall ships.
The first boat to cross the finish line was Bernd Kriegel's "Unique", followed by the "Chrilla" and the "Blue", on which Ocean Race winner Tony Kolb and his star skipper Marc Pickel were in charge.
In the VOR 60s class, only three of the seven boats that started crossed the finish line: the winner among these boats, all of which have completed the Ocean Race before, was the British "Challenge of Netsurvey" ahead of the New Zealand "Team RS". Third place went to the Swedish team "Elanders Ten Celsius".
The summit meeting took place during the storm on land: Gerd Eiermann, record holder with a total of 15 Kiel Week victories, and Wolfgang Hunger, with 13 wins to date, met at the press conference. Whether they can repeat last year's success this year is still questionable: "My interests are more in the youth sector at the moment, I've taken over a training group in NRW and my son is also doing quite well," says Eiermann, toning things down: "So I've just got my boat out and dusted it down a bit." In addition to the Kieler Woche, he only wants to sail the German Championship in the Kielzugvogel this year.
But Wolfgang Hunger and coxswain Holger Jess are also already behind schedule: "We had our boat in the water for the first time at Whitsun - we still have the German Championship in Warnemünde on the programme and then the World Championship in Malmö as the highlight." The Hunger/Jess duo also have to contend with strong international competition in Kiel: "The line-up is great - all the good Germans and some top people from other European countries," says Holger Jess.
Both Wolfgang Hunger and Gerd Eiermann question whether the number of Kieler Woche victories are really comparable. Hunger already has six victories to his name in the Olympic 470 - in completely different competitions to Eiermann, who is at home in the more nationally orientated Kiel Zugvogel. However, Eiermann does not want the draught bird to be devalued: "It is the catch-all for many people who simply do not have the time to sail in Olympic boat classes - and you can see that the level is right from the fact that some Olympic champions have joined us and have not seen any land."
Nevertheless, the Kielzugvogel is not an alternative for Hunger: "I'm at home on the Kiel Fjord and have to sail the classes where there are regular regatta fields here.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
