Kieler Woche 2015 - Day 6
by Hermann Hell 25 Jun 2015 14:17 PDT
20-28 June 2015
The first day for the sailing competitions for the international classes (now the Olympic classes have concluded) at the Kieler Woche was very different to what sailors and race organisers would have expected. It was a scenario of light gradient winds during midday and light thermal winds in the afternoon, where the keel boat classes could sail one race after all, whereas the light 29ers even could sail four races.
Regarding the German sportsmen and women, it was a good continuation of the successful Olympic part. In eleven of the 16 boat classes, the German flag is set at the top positions.
"That was surprisingly good. We managed to make the most out of the day", said the head of organisation Dirk Ramhorst, still enjoying the view on the fjord in the evening: "That really is much fun to look at. The huge fleets - that is the Kieler Woche", commented Ramhorst.
The Kieler Woche is the trial run for the World Championship of the Formula18 catamarans, which will also be taking place in Schilksee starting on 11. July. The class announced almost 200 duos for the Worlds. 37 boats came to the Kieler Woche to check out the sailing territory before. "We are very happy about the registration numbers. In the past, we were only two or three nations, now we are ten", said the German head of the class association Jens Uwe Tonne.
Newcomers or young sailors keep on joining the class because of the social aspect. There is nothing like a classical career in the catamaran classes in Germany. The best example is Eckart Kaphengst (Kiel), who was set as crew onto the Tornado by his father in the 70s on the "Poenitzer See" and then sailed at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984. He now forms a team together with his daughter Tine-Marie. "We also sail the Olympic Nacra17. But if you are not training 250 days on the water, you have no chance there", said Kaphengst. "Sailing the F18 is a great hobby." After the first two races the family duo is on rank eleven, the lead has been taken by the former World Champions Helge and Christian Sach from Zarnekau - as expected.
The skiff classes were dominated by the British sailors. While Max Billerbeck (Kollmar) saved the honour of the German sailors in the Contender, Ben Schooling is leading in the one-man skiff Musto Performance and the team Phil Walker/Jahn Muther are on rank one in the RS800, which has its premiere in Kiel. Another English native speaker can be happy about a perfect day in Kiel. Susannah Pyatt from New Zealand is leading the Laser Radial fleet.
The Danish sailors Anna Livbjerg and Bo Petersen also contribute to the international flair in the top ranking of the Kieler Woche. Livbjerg shows once more that the Danish are just excellent Europe sailors. And Petersen, the OK European Champion from 2013, is on track to defend the title in Kiel.
And Wolfgang Hunger (Strande) with crew Julien Kleiner in the 505 is aiming for his 22. success on his local sailing territory.
Results for all classes at www.kieler-woche.de