Tension in the air before the start of 470 Junior World Championship

by Kristina Müller on 21 Jun 2016 It's about each centimeter and each kilogram: Is the main sail not pulled up too high, do the centreboard and rudder blade fit into the template and is the boat too light? You can see the tension among the 470 sailors during the measurement procedure.

Starting on Wednesday, the athletes younger than 24 will be sailing to win the Junior World Champion's trophy. But before they can start, they have to face the watchful eyes of the measurement team, which is handling measurement marks, checking sails and finally lifting the boats onto the padded scale.

The Olympic dinghy sailed with two crew is allowed to weigh 120 kilograms, no kilo less. But if so, the crew would have to take weights on board. - The aim of the measurement is to have fair conditions. Jara Seide and Christine Walkenbach do have some water in the hull of their boat - they have to get it out, otherwise the result would not be precise. The sailors shall leave the boat to dry in the sun and then come back to weigh it again.

Outside of the measurement building, there is a queue of dinghies and sailors. 20 minutes are planned for the measurement per boat including the rig, but after a while, there is a slight delay in the tight schedule. The teams can find some minutes to talk about their expectations of the following days.

Domenique Freund (17) and Annabell Prockat (18) are feeling well prepared, since they have won the German junior title in the 470 in May this year. „This gives us a good feeling. We think and we hope, we can sail in the front of the fleet', says Freund.

Constanze Stolz and Anna Reinsberg are more relaxed about the Junior Worlds. The two young sailors did only join as a 470 team a few months ago, having both sailed a Laser before. „We have been sailing two regattas together until now. Therefore people are not expecting that much from us', says Reinsberg, who just recently made here school exam. 'However we want to achieve our goals of course', adds Stolz.

Having won the silver medal at the European Championship 2015 in Thessaloniki and being the current sparring partner of the German 470 Olympic team, Malte Cipra and Matti Winkel from the Audi Sailing Team Germany have higher ambitions. 'Anything that is possible' is their motto, they are aiming for the gold medal.

Tough competitors are among the international participants: Among others the Spanish crew David and Axel Charles, who were on rank three at the Junior Worlds in the previous year, just behind Cipra/Winkel. They have still been training on the water before their scheduled measurement time slot. They are looking forward to the Junior Worlds and the Kiel Week: 'It is a great event', says David Charles. But now they also have to lower the mast and have to face the measurement.