Kieler Woche: "Adrenalised", "wild", "survival mode" - rock'n'roll on the fjord

The women's crews in the Olympic 49erFX were first up on Monday and took advantage of the initially not quite so drastic conditions of up to 17 or 18 knots in the morning to complete two of their three planned races. The wind then continued to increase. On the 49erFX course, the start boat tore loose, while squalls toppled entire groups of boats. It was a quick return to the Olympic harbour in Kiel-Schilksee.

Gusts of eight Beaufort at the Kieler Woche

After a total of seven races, Olympic sixth-placed Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille from Mühlenberger Segel-Club on the Elbe in Hamburg defended the yellow jersey of the leaders ahead of Sophie Steinlein/Catherine Bartelheimer (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and Katharina Schwachhofer/Elena Stoltze (Württembergischer Yacht-Club).

It was wild today." Hanna Wille

"The wind was crazy today. It was pretty much survival conditions out there," said helmswoman Katharina Schwachhofer. Hanna Wille described the conditions as "adrenalised". When the skiff men were then sent out for a start attempt, they had to return to the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre in stiff winds of six to seven, and in gusts of eight Beaufort, without having achieved anything. All results from the dinghy courses can be found here.

In the Ilca 7, however, two out of three races could take place. Philipp Buhl (Sonthofen) moved up to third place as the best German helmsman in the largest Olympic field of 148 dinghies with two seventh places. Italian Lorenzo Brando Chiavarini defended his lead ahead of compatriot Dimitri Peroni. The Ilca 7 helmsman of the day, however, was 23-year-old Justin Barth from Berlin, who followed up a win on the day with fourth place and catapulted himself up to sixth place in the overall ranking after a total of six races.

Everything came together with successful starts, a good overview of the wind shifts under the clouds, but also lucky timing." Justin Barth

The iQFOiLers were naturally in their element on Monday at their Games on the eastern shore off Stein. While the spray flew over the outer fjord, Poland's Tomasz Romanowski continued to race ahead, but is now "only" tied on points with Korea's Gunhak Choi. By his own admission, Fabian Wolf from Kiel "did a lot right, but had just as much bad luck with seaweed", which unintentionally slowed him down. He remains close to the leaders in third place, four points behind.

Kieler Woche: Dancing with the wind

Young iQFOiL hopeful Sophia Meyer enjoyed the strong winds. The 20-year-old broke through the phalanx of the four best French women in four course races and after a total of nine races is second overall, just four points behind the leader Marion Couturier. "I'm surprised myself at how well it went, even though the conditions were a 'fight for survival' for us," said the sailor from Kiel, summarising an exhausting day at the regatta, after which she is on her own finishing course. Meyer: "I would like to finish on the Kiel Week podium - preferably at the top, of course." Click here for the results of the Olympic windsurfers.

The International German Sailing Championships were also hit by the rough conditions on Monday. The start boat also tore loose after the only race of the day. "It was really crazy today," said "eXciter" owner and helmsman Jens Kuphal from the Berlin Yacht Club, reporting winds of 30 or 35 knots. "At the absolute peak, we even had 40 knots," said Kuphal.

His crew with tactician Robert Stanjek was the first boat at the buoy after the first lap. "Then we 'fished' the buoy with a bit of a sharp turn and under power and had to free ourselves first," reported Kuphal. After completing the penalty circle, the team successfully set off in pursuit on the new XR41, ultimately finishing two minutes behind the first boat in fourth place.

IDM challenges at the Kieler Woche

"We did really well in the conditions," said Kuphal. The fact that his team received a standard penalty of 0.6 points on top in the evening was not directly due to the rock 'n' roll on the fjord. Because the "eXciter" crew did not want to sail with the A2 due to the wind conditions, but did not have an A4 in their sailing wardrobe, an A4 from the former landmark "Intermezzo" was reactivated. However, this older A4 still had its old sail number. "Rules are rules. We will now stick a new one on there with adhesive tape," Kuphal announced on Monday evening.

While his team is still in second place with 10.6 points after five races in the battle for the title and medals at the International German Championship Inshore behind the Danish XR41 "Formula X" with Jesper Radich's crew, Kuphal was already looking forward to part 2 of the IDM Offshore with great anticipation. The successful Aal regatta marked the successful start of the offshore classification. Phillip Kasüske returns to the "eXciter" team for the Silver Ribbon overnight. A young father for several months, Kasüske had taken some time out for this year.

"We are sailing the Silver Ribbon for the first time in the second half of Kiel Week. I'm delighted that Phillip is also coming back from his father's holiday for this. There will be a bit more of an ocean racing atmosphere," said Jens Kuphal. But first they want to continue to attack and defend their position at the IDM Inshore on Tuesday. The Italian XR41 "WB IX", which is in third place in ORC A&B, is only 2.5 points behind "eXciter" with 13.1 points before the final day.

XR41 christened "Dixi 5" and on the advance

Erik Stannow's XR41 "Dixi 5" with Gordon Nickel, RVS boss Bertil Balser and other top German sailors, which finished third in the stormy conditions on Monday, was only 3.4 points behind the Kuphal team. The new X racing goat was christened on Monday at Kieler Woche. So far, she has brought her team up to speed with the best in the class.

In ORC C&D, Torsten Bastiansen's crew on the X-35 "Sydbank" came fifth in the only race of the day, losing a few points in the battle for the inshore title. Following the day's victory, Patrik Forsgren's modified First 36.7 continues to lead this division with seven points on the IDM account, level on points with the "Sydbank". Four points behind after second place in the Monday rodeo was the Italia 9.98 "Patent 4" with helmsman Oliver Voss. Click here for the IDM results.