Kieler Woche 2015 - Day 2

Kieler Woche 2015 day 2 © Christian Beeck / www.segel-bilder.de

After a long time waiting due to lacking wind, the Olympic classes could nevertheless almost sail the whole program on the second race day at the Kieler Woche. Only the 49ers had to abandon the last race, all other classes are on schedule. After the strong start, German crews are in top positions in three of the nine classes. The remaining top positions are dominated by Estonia, Croatia, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria and the USA.

But Heiko Kroeger (Ammersbek) was pushed down from his top position in the 2.4 and now has to try the next days to overtake the strong sailor Norwegian Björnar Erikstad.

In the men's Laser, Tobias Schadewaldt (Oldenburg) has a stain on his clean record. But with three victories and one rank three in four races, he is still the measure of all things.

This is also true for the mixed team Paul Kohlhoff/Carolina Werner (Kiel) in the catamaran Nacra17. They did already win five out of six races. "Good starts and great speed are the main difference compared with the competitors", said helmsman Kohlhoff. But the young team still has to clean up the major sources of errors on their way to the World Championship in July. "We nearly capsized. That should not happen."

The 49er sailors Justus Schmidt/Max Boehme from Kiel are also continuing with their great start from the first day and could already build up a comfortable record of ranking points keeping them in front of the second placed Austrian team Benjamin Bildstein/David Hussl.

In the 470, the lead is taken clearly by the international favourite teams: Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic (Croatia) are the top team in the men's class, Lara Vadlau/Jolanta Ogar (Austria) are confidently dominating the female competitors with four victories in four starts. Without any major mistakes, Deniss Karpak (Estonia) is still leading in the Finn. While the competitors did make mistakes, Karpak could even handle a rank six.

A slip-up became Laser Radial sailor Tina Mihelic's (Craotia) downfall. Despite three victories, she is currently "only" on rank two - after finishing a race in eleventh position. On rank one is the US-American Erika Reineke.

The top of the 49er FX fleet is very unusual. Although the class is supposed to be Olympic for the women, it is an open class for the Kieler Woche. The Dutch mixed duo Annemiek Bekkering/Daniel Bramervaer has taken the leading position. The German crews Leonie Meyer/Elena Stoffers (Kiel) und Jule und Lotta Goerge (Kiel) are following on rank two.

Results for all classes at www.kieler-woche.de