World's best sailors bringing attention to 470 Junior Championship

by segler-zeitung.de on 16 Jun 2016 It is not just the four-time World Champions Mathew Belcher/Will Ryan (Australia), who are bringing attention to the Olympic 470 class at the Kiel Week (18. until 26. June).

The junior 470 sailors are also in the focus of the sporting interest in Kiel. Because the Junior World Championship of the two-man dinghy will be a highlight of the Kiel Week 2016, officially starting on Tuesday, 21. June at 8pm in the Audi Sailing Arena right after the parade of the nations at 7:30pm from the Olympic fire to the stage. Ten fleet races and the medal race are scheduled for the Junior Worlds, which will take place on race course Charlie.

32 women crews from twelve nations and 52 men crews from 17 nations did register for the regatta. The world's best junior sailors from Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Africa and from all over Europe are coming to Kiel-Schilksee. 'We are happy to be able to offer another highlight at the Kiel Week with this World Championship. It suits our concept to bring the international sailing youth to Kiel', says head of organisation of the Kiel Week regattas Dirk Ramhorst (Kiel Yacht Club), who is very satisfied with 84 registered crews.

An important aspect is the fact, that after ten years it is the first time that an international 470 World Championship takes place in Germany, explains Ramhorst. And the quality of the fleet of participants is good; five of the six medal winner crews of the Junior Worlds 2015 in Thessaloniki (Greece) will show up in Kiel wanting to step again onto the podium.

The German medal hopes are with the current silver medal winners from Thessaloniki, Malte Winkel (22/Schwerin YC) and Matti Cipra (23/Plau Wassersport Verein) from the Audi Sailing Team Germany. And while family, friends and fans are keeping their fingers crossed for Malte Winkel, his younger sister Birte has no time for that. The 18-year old is sailing herself at the Junior Worlds as crew of Theres Dahnke (17/ both from Kiel).

But the expectations are different. Having won bronze and silver in the previous years, Malte Winkel with crew Matti Cipra is among the favourites, while Dahnke/Winkel only have outside chances in the women's felt and hope to be in the top ten in end. But before brother and sister are jumping into the Worlds' spectacle, they can be seen together on the stage. They will be speaking the athlete's oath at the opening ceremony of the Worlds on Tuesday. But starting on Wednesday (first start at 12pm), brother and sister will then go different ways on the water.

Winkel/Cipra are still allowed to start in the junior age group U24 and want to use their last year as juniors to complete the range of medals with the gold medal. 'The Junior Worlds in Kiel are the perfect farewell from the junior class for us. We are very much looking forward to the event. After silver and bronze we are now aiming for gold in Kiel', says Malte Winkel.

They would then be on the same track as the current Junior World Champions GuillaumePirouelle/Valentin Sipan. The French did become second in 2014 and one year later in 2015 they did win the gold medal. But even the French are still juniors and aiming to defend the title and win a third medal. The third crew among the favourites is the duo Giacomo Ferrari/Giullo Calabro. The Italian crew did win the bronze medal last year in Greece. So the whole medal trio from Greece will be at the start in Kiel. National coach Hendrik Ismar, who gave the impetus for Kiel's application to host the World Championship, believes, his two protégés can deliver a great performance and is hoping to see his crew on the podium on Sunday at 4pm for the prize giving ceremony at the Audi Sailing Arena.

The female junior sailors from the DSV also have an iron in the fire with Frederike Loewe/Anna Markfort. The crew from the national Audi sailing team did already win bronze in 2014. But the favourite team are the medal winners of the previous year, Benedetta Di Salle/Alessandra Dubbini (Italy/Gold 2015) and Maria Bozi/Rafailina Klonaridou (Greece/silver), as well as the silver medal winners from 2014, Noya Bar-Am/Rimon Shoshan (Israel).

The young talents in the 470 Theres Dahnke/Birte Winkel are expected to have outside chances in light winds. The team living in Kiel belongs to Germany's youth national sailing team - just like Jara Seide/Christine Walkenbach.

While the brother Malte wants to be part of the fight for the medals, the newcomers to the World Championship Dahnke/Winkel, who have been sailing together since 2014, want to get a good ranking. The two young sailors did realise at a 420 training camp in Hyères (France) that they are on the same level. In July last year they made the next logical step moving from the 420 into the Olympic 470. And with this change, they also decided to declare the sport as the centre of their lives. Both did move to Kiel, where Theres Dahnke (17) lives in the sports boarding school in Schilksee and is going to school, while Birte Winkel, who is one year older, is studying home economics at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel.

'We spend a lot of time with our sport. We moved to Kiel just for that. We train almost daily, whether on the water or in the gym. And if we do not train, we are working on our boat or are organising the next training blocks together with our coach', describes Theres Dahnke the daily routine which is dominated by the sport.

Having the Kiel Week in sight means a lot of tension. 'The Kiel Week is a big event each year. This year it is even more important with the Junior Worlds. Therefore the excitement is huge due to several reasons. It is our 1st Junior Worlds, it takes place in our own country and we want to be really good, of course', says Birte Winkel. Since it is the 1st Junior Worlds, it is hard for them to rate the fleet. 'However a place in the top ten, which would result to be part of the medal race, would make us be really satisfied', Dahnke is self-confident. It would be something special, if both sister and brother would start in the medal races on Sunday, 26. June.

The European Championship of the J/70, which is sailed in the national sailing leagues, as well as the International German Championship of the offshore sailors, of the Olympic Nacra 17 class and in the Paralympic classes 2.4mR and Sonar are further highlights of the Kiel Week 2016 (18. until 26. June). Approximately 4,000 active sailors from 50 nations will be presenting the whole spectrum of the sailing sport on ten race courses for nine days. The farewell of the German Olympic team, the appearance of real top sailors like Peter Burling/Blair Tuke (New Zealand) in the 49er and Mathew Belcher/Will Ryan (Australia) in the 470 and a complete supporting programme do offer a top-class event for the Kiel Week in its 134. year.