The races in the Olympic classes began with two German victories on the day. Europe sailor Wiebke Schroeder and Mistral surfer Alexander Baronjan, athletes who are not qualified for Athens, won.
His head is clear and his performance is improving. Berlin-based Mistral surfer Alexander Baronjan, who had missed out on the Olympic nomination, won in the overall field of 92 starters. Toni Wilhelm from Kiel, who has his Olympic ticket in his pocket, had to settle for fifth place. However, Wilhelm can live with the defeat: "This year, Kiel Week is first and foremost an important preparation for the Olympic regattas," he explains. The Europe sailor Petra Niemann from Berlin, who qualified for the Olympics, probably feels the same way, as she only finished thirteenth behind the victorious Wiebke Schroeder.
"Kiel Week is always good for surprises," explained Head of Organisation Dieter Rümmeli, referring more to the weather than the results. The races at the start were overshadowed by a thunderstorm, which only allowed one race in most of the classes, and the Tornados and Ynglings could not be sailed at all. The prospects for regattas today are also rather poor: a storm depression with up to nine force winds is forecast over the Bay of Kiel.
The field in the women's keelboat Yngling has turned out to be a disappointment for the organisers. Only a total of three boats are competing in this class. "An organisational problem, most of the crews already have their boats in Athens," explains German Olympic helmswoman Kristin Wagner (Feldafing), who has two boats herself. But it was a home-grown crisis in sailing: all of a sudden, Greek championships appeared on the regatta calendar on the date of Kiel Week - and the Yngling class arranged to meet in Greece. Following the intervention of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), which wanted to protect its best promotional event - Kiel Week - the regattas in Greece were postponed.
Sydney surf silver medallist Amelie Lux was in good form at the start of the Olympic classes at Kiel Week. She sailed to fourth place in the Mistral women's class.
The German star boat duo Alexander Hagen/Jochen Wolfram had to settle for tenth place in the opening race and are still looking for their form for the Olympic Games. The Swedish world champion pair Fredrik Lööf and Anders Ekstrom are in the lead in this class.
