Sailing with a handicap: Inclusive sailing season 2024 starts on 1 May with regatta series

The Cup is a joint project of the Heinz Kettler Foundation, the Möhnesee Yacht Club and the "Wir sind Wir - Inclusion in Sailing" association. The Inclusive German Championship of the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS) and the Bavarian Championship of the Bavarian Disabled and Rehabilitation Sports Association (BVS) in the RS Venture Connect class will be sailed on Lake Chiemsee at the same time as the first match day. Joachim Hermann, Bavarian State Minister of the Interior, Sport and Integration, is the patron of the event.

16 teams from three nations - Germany, Austria and Belgium - have registered for the races on Bavaria's largest lake. The entry list also includes two Paralympics winners: Jens Kroker and Siegmund Mainka. Together they sailed to Paralympic gold and silver in the Sonar boat class. They are in separate boats on Lake Chiemsee. Jens Kroker (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) will compete together with his wife Sabine Kroker-Hohmann (Segelclub Prien e.V. Chiemsee), with whom he won the runner-up world title in the Open and overall standings in the RS Venture Connect class in 2022. Mainka (Yachtclub Möhnesee) will start together with Jürgen Brietzke (Wir sind Wir - Inclusion in Sailing e.V.).

The "Heinz Kettler Deutschland Cup" will be sailed on boats of the RS Venture Connect type, which are used worldwide in top-class para and inclusion regattas. The inclusive teams compete against each other in several short races in a league format. The score for the inaugural series is based on the sum of the results of each team's individual races. The teams in the gold fleet (first to eighth place) qualify for the final race if they have completed at least four races in the opening series. The preliminary round ranking is taken into the final as points. The points from the final race are added together to give the final result.

Inclusive sailing is to be promoted

After the opener in Bavaria, the second match day will follow from 19 to 21 July at the Möhnesee Yacht Club, before the grand finale on 5 and 6 October at the Schweriner Segler-Verein von 1984. To celebrate the Day of German Unity, a very special event organised by "Wir sind Wir - Inclusion in Sailing", the "Inklusive Segel Länder Pokal", will take place in Schwerin on 3 and 4 October, the days before the final. This involves 16 inclusive crews, each with one team member with a disability and one team member without a disability, sailing against each other - one crew from each federal state.

• Sailing with a handicap: On board with a wheelchair

The event is organised by the German Sailing Association (DSV), with the Schwerin Sailing Club as partner and organiser. The patron of the event is the Minister President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and current President of the Bundesrat, Manuela Schwesig. In keeping with the motto of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's presidency of the Bundesrat, "Setting sail united", the inclusive sailing on Lake Schwerin against a picturesque backdrop will be a highlight of the large civic festival to mark the central celebrations for the Day of German Unity.

As one of the largest inclusive sailing events in Germany, the "Heinz Kettler - Inklusive Segel Länder Pokal" serves as a flagship project to break down reservations and encourage others to follow suit. The event is one of the latest inclusive formats to be developed in Germany in recent years, including the official inclusive sailing world championships in Rostock in cooperation with World Sailing as well as the "Helga Cup" in Hamburg and the "Heinz Kettler Deutschland Cup".

Dates:
Heinz Kettler Germany Cup:
1st match day: 1 to 5 May, Segelclub Prien e. V. am Chiemsee
2nd match day: 19 to 21 July, Yachtclub Möhnesee
3rd match day/final: 5/6 October, Schweriner Segler-Verein von 1984

Heinz Kettler - Inclusive Sailing Countries Cup
3-4 October, Schweriner Segler-Verein von 1984