Sailing Grand Slam Gold at Kieler Woche goes to France and Great Britain

Winner of the medal race and overall at Kieler Woche Sailing Grand Slam 2025 in the 470: Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris from Great Britain © Sascha Klahn / Kieler Woche

With a victory in the final medal race of the Kieler Woche, the British team of Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris secured gold in the 470 class on Sunday (June 29).

The best German team, Theresa Löffler and Christopher Hoerr, finished fifth. In the second Olympic discipline, the Nacra 17 - without any local finalists - Tim Mourniac and Aloise Retornaz from France won ahead of John Gimson and Anna Burnet (Great Britain). In the afternoon, winners and runners-up in nine international classes were honored. With that, the Kieler Woche regatta concluded successfully after more than 350 sailing races involving around 1,500 boats from 65 nations.

With perfect sailing conditions, a fresh to strong westerly wind, and the finals in the Olympic mixed disciplines, the Kieler Woche celebrated a spectacular sporting finale. The internationally diverse podiums in the 470 and Nacra 17 classes reflected the high status of the newly established Sailing Grand Slam. The medals were shared among Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and Australia.

The British duo Wrigley/Harris confidently held off the current Spanish world champions Jordi Xammar Hernandez/Marta Cardona Alcantara and the Portuguese crew Diego Costa/Carolina Joao in the final. "It was super exciting right to the end. We only managed to take the lead in the second upwind and then held onto it," reported Bettine Harris about the eventful medal race. "This victory means a lot to us after what has already been a great season. Beating the reigning world champions feels amazing," said the worlds bronze medalist.

After a hard fought Tim Mourniac and Aloise Retornaz from France (yellow bips) won the Kieler Woche Sailing Grand Slam in the Nacra 17 class - photo © Sascha Klahn / Kieler Woche

The world champions had high praise for the Kieler Woche: "We're very happy to have been here. It's one of the best events in the world, a fantastic competition, well organized. And you have to be a really good sailor to succeed here. That's what makes it so cool."

With increasing wind pressure, the Nacra 17 catamarans final turned into a wild ride over the waves, though without German participation. Still, it was full of excitement as crews fought to stay aboard their bucking boats in the rough wind. Just before the finish, the leading Australians Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown nearly capsized. But the team from Down Under avoided a flip, secured victory in the medal race, and thus took third place overall. The French team Mourniac/Retornaz only needed second place in the final to clinch gold ahead of Tokyo Olympic silver medalists Gimson/Burnet.

Full results available here.