Kieler Woche: From Kiel into the future to the Olympics, America's Cup, Ocean Race or Vendée Globe
Tatjana Pokorny
· 23.06.2024
Luise Wanser is 470 mixed world champion. She celebrated her gold in 2022 with co-skipper Philipp Autenrieth. "This world championship victory was so important to me! It was important for me to make a statement for women because I believe that we women are still underestimated. Not just in sailing. Everywhere in the world. We were able to prove that you can also become world champion in mixed teams with a woman at the helm."
Luise Wanser after her Olympic exit: off to new shores!
After their celebrated title success, Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth were long among the favourites in the battle for just one German Olympic ticket in the new Olympic 470 mixed. However, they were defeated in this battle by team-mates Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort, who are competing for Team D in the Olympic regatta. "This defeat still hurts. I'm still thinking about what will happen for me in the Olympics," admits Luise Wanser honestly. After the bitter end to her ambitious Olympic campaign, the 27-year-old Hamburg lawyer with a bachelor's degree in her pocket initially took some time out.
Working with the women is a lot of fun and very efficient." Luise Wanser
A few weeks ago, however, she returned and answered the call of the German team for the first women's America's Cup off Barcelona in the autumn. "It's now or never," she was told. "It's now or never", thought Luise Wanser, flew home from Miami and has since been training in the team's Kiel simulator alongside athletes such as Olympic 49erFX silver medallist Tina Lutz for the GER entry in the Women's America's Cup. "Working with the women is a lot of fun and very efficient! And we're getting better and better," says Luise Wanser, who trains either solo as a helmswoman with a virtual trimmer automatically switched on or in a quartet with two helmswomen and two trimmers from the team. Luise Wanser, a qualified helmswoman, also develops her skills as a trimmer in the simulator.
Parallel to their training, the prospective German America's Cup women also take part in virtual regattas in which they compare themselves with international women's teams preparing for the 1st Women's America's Cup in their home countries. The simulators of all the teams are linked together via a programme for this purpose. "These regattas are another opportunity to determine whether we are improving as a team," says Luise Wanser, explaining the preparation programme that is being driven forward in Kiel. Then she smiles and says: "When I was a child, I was never allowed to play on the computer. Now I do it every day."
German Cup sailors face historic premiere
Together with the other German sailors in the team, Luise Wanser is campaigning for further support for the German women's participation in the historic premiere of the Women's America's Cup, which has so far been secured on a modest budget. "We will be there, that's for sure. But of course more support can help us to get even further," says the ambitious competitive athlete Luise Wanser. More support could, for example, increase the chances of securing more than the four days of pre-training on the AC40 bullets that women's crews with mother teams in the America's Cup have direct access to.
Susann "Sanni" Sanni Beucke is also pursuing an ambitious goal: the professional sailor from Strande won Olympic silver in the women's skiff alongside Tina Lutz in Japan in 2021. She then switched disciplines and has since been working hard in the demanding Figaro class in Lorient, France, and at other engagements for her promotion to the Imoca class. The 33-year-old's long-term goal is to take part in the Vendée Globe 2028. "Boris Herrmann has done a good job of levelling the playing field here in Germany," said Sanni Beucke during her visit to Kieler Woche. She has also received a lot of support with her "This race is female" campaign.
The Ocean Race Europe and the Vendée Globe in our sights
Her mission is also "female empowerment", the strengthening of women. "In my sport, you don't have to say that all the time. The pictures speak for themselves," said the ocean striker. With her intensive involvement in the Figaro class, she had "focussed on laying the foundations for the Vendée Globe". The Ocean Race Europe, which will be held on Imocas and start in Kiel on 10 August 2025, also plays into her hands. She wants to be there, ideally as a skipper. Exciting talks about this are underway, says the tireless driver.
Germany's best Olympic sailors also have big things in mind. The national sailing team will not be at full strength on the fjord at the current Kiel Week due to the proximity of the Olympic regatta from 28 July and ongoing training in Marseille, but will be fully represented at the halfway point of the nine-day regatta week on the fjord.
Kiel Week half-time under the sign of the five rings
26 June at the Olympic Centre Kiel Schilksee will be all about the five rings. An official presentation of the sailing team for Team D is planned for the afternoon on the stage in the Audi Sailing Arena. Anyone who wants to meet the men and women who will be chasing medals in France under sail, as windsurfers or kiters will have the best chance to do so on the Wednesday of Kiel Week, including an autograph session and on-stage interviews.
