Darren Bundock experienced his first Kiel Week in 1994 at the age of 23. That year, the World Championship in the Olympic twin-hulled Tornado took place in Båstad, Sweden. Bundock wanted to compete in another European regatta beforehand with his co-skipper John Forbes. They had heard good things about Kiel Week, so they travelled to the north of Germany. He can no longer count how many times he was active as a Tornado helmsman on the fjord after that, but says: "It was often, very often." He won twice on the fjord: in 1999 and 2006.
Darren Bundock: an ace on two hulls
Darren Bundock was one of the big stars of Olympic Tornado sailing, which also made his then permanent rival and friend Roland Gäbler famous in this country. The Australian and the German fought great duels on the water. Before the age of foiling, the Tornado was the hot Olympic twin-hull sailing discipline between 1976 and 2008.
The Olympic regatta in Sydney 2000 is unforgettable: Darren Bundock and John Forbes went for gold in their home waters, but won silver and were nevertheless celebrated like national heroes. Roland Gäbler and René Schwall won bronze. Both top favourites - Australians and Germans - were beaten by the Austrian Olympic champions Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher in front of the backdrop of Sydney's Opera House.
That was almost a quarter of a century ago. Darren Bundock is still successful as a technically outstanding twin-hulled wizard, finishing runner-up in the open A-Class catamaran competition in Punta Ala last year. He can still do it and still loves competitive sailing on two hulls. The father of a teenager has long since passed on his experience, expertise and passion as a national coach.
Kieler Woche: Australia's Nacra 17 sailors advance
This year, Darren Bundock is touring Europe as an experienced coach for Australia with four up-and-coming young Nacra 17 crews. They are steeling themselves for Olympic success in the future at the Sailing Grand Slam regattas and major continental or world championships, moving ever closer to the top. This can also be seen at Kieler Woche, where the young Australians Brin Liddell/Rhiannan Brown and Ruben Booth/Rita Booth lurked in third and fourth place after nine races. Click here for the Kiel Week results.
All eight Australian Nacra sailors in the four Australian crews at Kieler Woche came from an intensive camp six years ago. In 2019, the Australian Sailing Team set up its Nacra Fast Track programme in search of young talent. At the time, Australia's best Nacra 17 crew Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmin - now wing trimmers of Australian SailGP record winners Bonds Flying Roos around Tom Slingsby and Anchorwoman in the SailGP TV team - had won Nacra silver in Rio de Janeiro. But Waterhouse and Darmanin were already sailing towards the end of their Olympic careers on the Enoshima course and there was no real prospect of new blood.
The Australians wanted to counteract the looming gap and invited interested teeangers from classes such as Nacra 15, 29er and other disciplines to a sustainable Nacra 17 crash course. Darren Bundock remembers: "It was clear that Jason and Lisa would stop at some point. We took a group of ten kids, brought them together as individuals and not as crews. We had an intensive training camp over nine months. It was in Australia on Lake Macquarie with beautiful conditions."
Australia's Nacra young talent programme works
Step by step, things progressed, as Darren Bundock reports: "We did a full crash course: how to tack, how to jibe, how to prepare your boat, how to use your foils. Jason and Lisa came to sail with the kids and show them where the bar is set. We brought in foil experts. I was there, as was Carolijn Brouwer (editor: Bundock's Dutch partner, three-time Olympian and first Ocean Race winner), who ran the programme. All my sailors here at Kieler Woche come from the programme. It shows that it was worth it."
To contain costs, the young Australian crews usually operate with second-hand Nacras. Bundock says: "You can now buy boats for 12,000, 13,000 euros on the second-hand market. The fact that you can now get several Olympic cycles out of the hulls, despite the foiling development in the Nacra, makes the boats cheaper. Then you need a set of sails for around 3,500 euros to get the boats into shape. And then you need the knowledge to get the boats going."
The advantage of the up-and-coming Australian crews is that they can draw on the expertise of a number of world-class sailors. And they are doing so with growing success. Their coach Darren Bundock knows: "Two years ago, nobody wanted to train with our junior teams. That has now changed with more and more medal races at the big events. Now they are suddenly of interest to others too."
Kiel Week surprise: a submarine surfaces
With a place on the Kiel Week podium, the newcomers from Down Under could put another exclamation mark on their course to LA2028. While his students are competing in the 131st Kiel Week, Darren Bundock also enjoys reminiscing about his own experiences on the fjord. "The best and craziest memory I have is of the start sequence in a race in the mid-1990s. A submarine suddenly appeared in front of us! I'll never forget that! The start had to be repeated, of course..."
What has sailing given him for his life? Darren Bundock laughs as he looks around the hustle and bustle of the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre: "I think my whole life revolves around sailing. I met my partner through sailing. I met most of my friends through sailing. Sailing gives me my income, a lifestyle. I have two Olympic silver medals, 15 World Championship medals from different classes, America's Cup experience."
In addition, Darren Bundock says: "Sailing is an ageless sport, I still compete in the foiling Class A. I still love this challenge. I still love this challenge. And at the moment I'm also enjoying wing foiling, the surfing side of it. You can enjoy that very close to where we live in Australia." The reigning vice world champion in the open Class A is also looking forward to seeing the wing foilers in action in the current Kieler Woche area.
Bundock values Kiel Week as a testing ground
The Australian, who has learnt all the tricks of the trade, considers the fjord to be an excellent regatta and training area. "We come here because you can experience all weather conditions. From one day to the next, sometimes from one extreme to the other. We've experienced that this week too. It's almost funny that as an Australian you get sunburnt here on the first weekend in midsummer conditions before the rain and gale force winds arrive. Kiel Week always brings good tests."
A look back at the turn of the millennium and the successes of Darren Bundock and John Forbes, who had just won Olympic silver in Sydney:
