Kieler Woche: Start, appearance and farewell - the Olympic team comes to Kieler Woche
Tatjana Pokorny
· 17.06.2024
"Kieler Woche is a welcome home match and remains a fixture for us. Even shortly before the Olympics, a top competition is more valuable than training on the water," says DSV coach Alex Schlonski. The coach of Germany's best Ilca 7 helmsman Philipp Buhl and his team-mates in the German Sailing Team knows what he is talking about. Alex Schlonski is at the Allgäu native's side as coach for the second time during Philipp Buhl's third Olympic summit attempt.
Kiel Weeks are usually nice. Everyone wants to win." Philipp Buhl
The training group led by 2020 world champion Philipp Buhl, his younger compatriot Nik Aaron Willim, French 2022 world champion Jean-Baptiste Bernaz and Norwegian Olympic bronze medallist Hermann Tomasgaard made a conscious decision to compete at Kieler Woche, while other international Olympic participants decided to forgo further regatta practice.
Top act in Kiel: the aces of the Ilca-7 class
Philipp Buhl wants to make the most of the last test of strength before the Olympic showdown in the Bay of Marseille on 28 July. The 34-year-old said: "Kiel Weeks are usually nice. Everyone wants to win. In this phase before the Olympic Games, I always find new motivation every week for the big goal in Marseille and I also want to savour Kiel Week." Buhl, Bernaz, Tomasgaard, Willim, other strong German and international players and a total of 120 starters make the Ilca 7 class the top act among the Olympic disciplines at this Kiel Week.
Saying yes to another Olympic campaign, Nik Aaron Willim was a guest at the pre-event press conference in the Schleswig-Holstein state capital on Monday ahead of Kiel Week. There, the 27-year-old Ilca-7 helmsman, who after an excellent start to the national Olympic qualifiers ultimately had to admit defeat to his champion Philipp Buhl in the battle for just one Olympic ticket, said: "I thought long and hard about whether I should continue for another four years. But stopping now, when I'm knocking on the door of the world's top ten, is out of the question."
After completing his bachelor's thesis, Nik Willim wants to go to Belgium for ten months to study for a master's degree in sustainable innovation. Before that, however, there is the home match starting on Saturday. "I want to enjoy Kiel Week first, it's always a great highlight," said Nik Willim.
Around 3000 activists set sail for Kiel Week
A total of around 3000 participants are expected from Saturday in 16 Olympic and international dinghy and smaller keelboat classes as well as on the sea courses of the larger yachts and in naval cutter competitions. The Kiel Week will be opened with the traditional eel regatta of the larger boats to Eckernförde and the Olympics. In the Olympic field, however, Kiel Week pays tribute to its proximity to the Olympic regatta in the Bay of Marseille. Most of the Olympic starters will refrain from starting in Kiel just a few weeks before their summit attempt. Only five of the ten Olympic sailing disciplines will be held on the Kiel Fjord.
The tight schedule around a month before the Olympic sailing competitions is also a challenge for us, but we are able to stand up to it with a very impressive number of entries." Dirk Ramhorst
With a view to the better-filled fields in other areas, Kieler Woche Sports Director Dirk Ramhorst said: "The tight schedule around a month before the Olympic sailing competitions also means a challenge for us, but we are able to stand up to it with a very impressive number of entries." A number of names prove that Kiel Week remains a magnet for top sailing in many areas. Even if the start of the reigning world champion and Olympic champion Anne-Marie Rindom (Denmark) was still in doubt in the week before the regatta started, Maud Jayet, the Swiss runner-up in the 2023 World Championship, will be coming. Julia Büsselberg from Berlin, who is still hoping for an Olympic starting place via an individual application after successfully qualifying for the nations but narrowly missing out on an individual qualification, will also be starting in Kiel.
In the field in the inclusive 2.4mR class, Paralympics winner, world champion and title holder Heiko Kröger from Ammersbek, his runner-up Meagan Pascoe from Great Britain and other strong starters can be expected to deliver another thrilling battle at the World Championships off Schilksee in August.
Flags from 53 nations fly in Kiel
One of the favourites in the 29er Eurocup, for which 140 crews are on the entry list, is Ewa Lewandowska, the Polish girls' youth world champion. She will be racing with foresailor Krzysztof Królik. The Youth World Championship bronze medallists Boróka and Szonja Fehér from Hungary also want to attack at Kieler Woche. Their compatriots, the FD record world champions and reigning vice world champions Szabolcs Majthenyi/Andras Domokos, are also on the entry list, as are last year's winners: the reigning and 2022 world champions Kay-Uwe Lüdtke and Kai Schäfers.
The rigging master has interesting tasks to solve on the Kieler Woche course, who will have to dig deep into the archives of national flags in view of exotic national abbreviations such as AFG, ESA, LCA or SAM and ZIM. Sailors from 53 nations want to be there when the famous German sailing series challenges its contenders over nine days in a wide variety of classes.
The multinational competition is led by Afghanistan in alphabetical order. Individual entries were received from El Salvador (ESA) and St Lucia (LCA) as well as Guatemala, India, Luxembourg, Morocco, Mexico, Malta, Singapore, Slovenia, Tunisia and, last but not least, Zimbabwe (ZIM). There are even two participants from the Samoa Islands north of New Zealand, one of whom, Vaimo'Oi'a Ripley from the Apia Yacht Club, will be competing twice in the ILCA 6: first in the Olympic and then in the international competition. This makes the long journey twice as worthwhile. Unsurprisingly, the strongest line-up with well over half of all watercraft comes from the host country, traditionally followed by Denmark (85) just ahead of Sweden (82).
The daily TV programme for Kiel Week
KielerWoche.TV will broadcast the races live from the media track every day. The 49er FX women will be in the spotlight to kick things off. This will be followed by the 49er on Sunday, Ilca 7 on Monday, Ilca 6 on Tuesday and the medal races on the final Wednesday of the first half of Kieler Woche. From Thursday, the OK dinghies will be shown with more than 80 boats at the start. On the following days, Ilca 6 (open) and J/70 will take centre stage. The races of the wingfoil coaching and demo event will be broadcast at the end on the second Sunday. The broadcasts will not only be shown on the big screen on the stage of the Audi Sailing Arena and on the video screens throughout the harbour area, but also on the Internet.
As the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre is also the home of the German Sailing Association (DSV) and a national base, the association is planning a presentation and farewell ceremony for its Olympic team for Paris 2024 at the Kiel Week half-time. Before the Kiel Week 2024 champions are honoured on Wednesday afternoon after the medal races, the German athletes for Marseille will be on stage in the Audi Sailing Arena from 4 pm. Afterwards, there will be time for autographs and selfies with the top athletes. German Olympic sailors, surfers and kiters have been nominated by the DOSB in eight out of ten disciplines. The local heroes and Olympic bronze medallists from Japan, Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer in the Nacra 17, are also among the qualifiers.
Strander Susann Beucke emphasises her close ties to home on the first Saturday of Kiel Week. The 49erFX silver medallist from Japan switched to ocean sailing after her Olympic success with Tina Lutz. Between two Figaro regattas in France, she will give an autograph session in the Helly Hansen tent on the morning of 22 June, sign her autobiography "Against the Wind" and give a talk for the next generation of sailors. In the afternoon, the 33-year-old will take to the water as patron of the inclusive BAT Sailing Team. The latter will once again be competing with visually and hearing impaired sailors in the international J/70 class.
