The International German Sailing Championship will take place during Kiel Week 2016. The organising Kieler Yacht-Club (KYC) recently published the Invitation to tender. Two important concerns of sea sailors have been taken into account.
A real novelty awaits the participating crews at the IDM Seesegeln 2016: for the first time in several years, a long distance of 24 to 30 hours sailing time is part of the IDM classification. The seagoing yachts in the IDM will set off from Düsternbrook towards the Bay of Kiel on Saturday 18 June 2016 together with the participants in the Welcome Race. Unlike the participants in the Welcome Race, the IDM yachts will not turn off towards Eckernförde at the Kiel lighthouse, but will instead tackle a navigationally challenging course that will take the teams through the Danish islands at night. The finish is Sunday afternoon off Kiel-Schilksee. The course will be designed so that the yachts in the different championship classes will sail a distance adapted to their speed. This will ensure that the night regatta will be the same for all crews and that crews of smaller yachts will not fall behind due to later arrival times.
From Monday to Wednesday, up-and-down regattas will be sailed on the Stollergrund in the usual manner. Only those who prove themselves both on the long distance and on the Stollergrund will be able to become German champions. With this division, the Kieler Yacht-Club is following a new concept that was developed in close co-operation with the Class association of sea sailors, the RVS was created. "Our aim was to incorporate the brand essence of sea sailing more strongly into the IDM," says one of the founders of the initiative, Bertil Balser. Bendix Hügelmann, also a co-founder, adds: "The middle distance may well have its justification. However, we are of the opinion that a longer race through the night requires much more in-depth expertise from the crews than is the case on the relatively short middle distances."
Parallel to the reorganisation of the IDM, the RVS is determined to continue its class policy from the 2015 season. In addition to promoting active cohesion among sailors, the reactivation of the small ORCi4 measurement class (formerly IMS4) for yachts smaller than 30 feet is also on the agenda. Following an initiative at the Flensburg Fjord Week that was apparently too short notice, the first positive signs are now emerging: the KYC has also advertised the IDM See for ORCi4 as a separate class. "We are delighted to have a competent and innovative partner at our side in the KYC," says Balser. "It won't be easy to re-establish the ORCi4 class. The fact that the KYC is giving small yachts their own class for Kieler Woche is a positive sign that makes us confident that we will be able to expand the ORC fleet sustainably in 2016."
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
