After the Trofeo Princesa Sofía off Mallorca and the French Semaine Olympique, Kieler Woche is the third Grand Slam regatta of the year for Olympic sailors. Which is why not all, but some Olympic sailing classes can look forward to strong fields of participants on the fjord. The international boat classes and big boats are also very popular. The organisers are expecting up to 4000 participants from 60 nations for around 400 races.
A quartet opens the Kiel Week Regatta
Around 600 different ILCA dinghies alone, including the men's Ilca-6 World Championship, almost 100 iQFOiLers in their Games and top-ranked 49er and 49erFX fields will ensure that the courses in the Kiel area will be very busy. The sailors are coming to Kiel from all continents. The official starting signal will be given on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre by Schleswig-Holstein's Minister of the Interior Sabine Sütterlin-Waack with the recently crowned 470 Vice World Champion Anna Markfort, Kiel's Lord Mayor Dr Ulf Kämpfer and Kieler Woche Sportchef Dirk Ramhorst.
The sporting spectrum ranges from Olympic dinghies, skiffs and foiling catamarans to the international classes and big boats through to the races of the navy cutters. A highlight of every Kieler Woche year is the windjammer parade, which can be experienced on 28 June in the regatta area of the Schleswig-Holstein "Sailing City".
This summer, 143 years after the Kiel Week premiere in 1882, the Olympic athletes will once again kick off the event on their short courses in Strander Bucht and out in the area in front of the Bülk lighthouse all the way to Stollergrund. However, two Olympic disciplines will only start in the second half of Kiel Week this year due to clashing dates: the 470 Mixed and Nacra 17 will then be in demand.
New dependence for board sports
The second event location on the eastern shore of the Kiel Fjord in Stein is a first in the history of Kieler Woche. "There we offer the 'flying boards' of the iQFOiL Games and the wingfoilers optimal competition conditions, while most boat classes will remain at home in Schilksee," explains Dirk Ramhorst. In addition to sailing, the programme includes eight Olympic disciplines and twice as many international disciplines.
Fabian Wolf from Kiel is looking forward to the Kieler Woche home event with the new action centre for board sports and the associated new regatta courses Mike and November, in addition to Foxtrot in front of Marina Wendtorf, intended for the foilers. "It should be ideal for surfing there, and not just with the prevailing westerly winds," says the 26-year-old business administration master's student, who has his sights set on the 2028 Olympic Games following the retirement of former world champion Sebastian Kördel.
After overcoming food poisoning two years ago, which put him out of action for a long time, Fabian Wolf wants to "step on the gas again until the medal race at Kiel Week". The race at home in Kiel marks a milestone on Wolf's course to the European Championships at the end of November, where he wants to make a definitive return to the top of the world rankings.
Three IDMs for the sea sailors
More than 1,600 entries underline the attraction of the Kiel area, which would like to be the stage for Olympic sailing competitions again in 2036, 2040 or 20244. 162 starters in the ILCA 7 with three-time Olympian Philipp Buhl (Sonthofen) and the national youngsters around local hero Ole Schweckendiek form the largest homogeneous field of participants.
For the Olympic sailors, the regatta high in the north also marks the half-time summit of the five-part Sailing Grand Slam of the most important series worldwide. The keelboat sailors open their Kiel Week with the Aalregatta. The sea-going yachts will compete in three International German Championships (IDM) off Kiel: The titles are contested in inshore, offshore and double-handed mode. Click here for all results of the Kiel Week after the first starts.
183 different yachts will be sailing to Eckernförde and back in the Aalregatta, which is already part of the IDM Inshore and Offshore. The latter, just like the double-handed IDM, concludes on Friday with the Silver Ribbon. A record number of 117 men have registered for the first part of the ILCA 6 World Championship. 140 women and men are competing in the same open class in the second half. 101 female sailors will be battling it out for victory in the first half of the Olympic-ambitious ILCA 6 women's event.
49erFX boat christening at Kiel Week
Anna Barth and Emma Kohlhoff recently missed their European Championship in the 49erFX because the helmswoman was in demand as a strategist in the German SailGP team in New York. "At the same time, I'm learning so much for the planing dinghy alongside Erik Heil," said Barth, explaining the good thing about the only overlap in the regatta calendar between her SailGP commitment and the Olympic campaign. Team Germany's SailGP skipper Erik Heil is a two-time Olympic bronze medallist in the 49er.
Anna Barth is expecting a "stronger field than at the European Championships" for Kiel Week and therefore a tough battle for the top ten, which will also include Olympic sixth-placed Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille (Mühlenberger SC) after their recently celebrated European Championship gold.
Anna Barth and Emma Kohlhoff have a new team member to celebrate before the start of Kieler Woche: the two-time U21 Junior World Champions from Kieler Yacht-Club are christening their new 49erFX almost on the foresailor's own doorstep in Strande. Emma Kohlhoff's sister Ida will be the godmother. "The seven-year-old boat was already getting soft," said the foresailor, "from now on it's no longer up to the material, it's up to us."
Kieler Woche premiere for the SailBot
How long is the start delay for the 49ers? What will the wind be like on the Foxtrot course? And which band will be playing in the Sailing Arena in the evening? These and similar questions are not only asked by Kiel Week athletes and volunteers, but also by sailing fans and visitors to the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre. This year, the new AI-based SailBot, which Accenture and IBM have just presented as partners of Kieler Woche, should help answer these questions.
Visitors can try out the new system at three terminals, so-called "public kiosks", on the event site in the harbour apron. "The SailBot is driving forward the digital transformation of Kieler Woche and creating real added value for everyone involved," says Dirk Ramhorst.
"A home for all" - a preview of Kiel Week in Kiel and on the water:
