Kieler Woche 2026 - Day 3: Ole Schweckendiek takes the lead in ILCA 7 class
by Kieler Woche 23 Jun 03:40 PDT
20-28 June 2026
ILCA 7 fleet - Kieler Woche 2026 © Sascha Klahn / Kieler Woche
Local hero Ole Schweckendiek took the lead in the ILCA 7 class on Monday (June 22) at Kieler Woche. With a bullet in the only race of the day, he pushed the winner of the second group, Attilio Borio of Italy, down to second place.
Vice World Champions Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort (Germany) significantly extended their lead in the 470 class with two bullets. Maru Scheel and Freya Feilcke from Kiel jumped onto the provisional podium, just behind the 49erFX leaders Georgia and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance from Canada, followed by Freya Black and Saskia Tidey (Great Britain), in another day of light winds. On Tuesday (June 23), the top ten in all six disciplines of the Sailing Grand Slam will be decided, determining who advances to the final medal races.
"That feels really good. It was a long, grueling day with little to show for it, but I made the best of it," said Schweckendiek. Starting Tuesday, he will no longer be sailing in blue - he'll be the one everyone is chasing. Just behind Schweckendiek and Borio is Denmark's Mark Hestbæk. The previous leader, Frenchman Alexandre Kowalski, struggled with the light winds and dropped to seventh place. "I'm not used to these conditions, but I'm still satisfied with my placement so far," said Kowalski. Three-time Olympian Philipp Buhl from Sonthofen, Bavaria, must fight for a spot in the medal races; he is currently ranked only 16th.
"Danish Dynamite" continues to dominate the women's ILCA 6 competition. However, after the day's only race, Anna Munch had to hand over her yellow jersey to fellow Helena Wolff also from Denmark, who holds a three-point lead. The day's victory went to Viktorija Andrulyte of Lithuania, though she is only in 26th place after two BFD the previous day. Julia Büsselberg (Berlin) dropped to 12th place after finishing 32nd.
At the top of the 49er ranking, US-Americans Nevin Snow and Ian Macdiarmid also dominated the class's second day of racing and defended the yellow bib. Hernán Umpierre and Fernando Diz from Uruguay remained in second place, ahead of New Zealanders Oscar Gunn and helmsman Mattias Coutts, son of sailing legend Russell Coutts.
The new Olympic race format is ensuring maximum excitement at Kieler Woche 2026. As the only German crew, Princess Sofia SGS winners Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger advanced to the elimination series and now even have a chance to grab the overall victory again. Thanks to the new scoring system, they can still make up for their 19th-place finish in the preliminary series and discard it. "The deck is being reshuffled. We weren't satisfied, but we've learned a lot and now feel better prepared for the persistent, light winds", said Rieger, who is aiming to win his very first Kieler Woche medal.
In the 49erFX, a German crew is surging ahead. Maru Scheel and Freya Feilcke moved up to third place after a race win and a second-place finish and can look forward to wearing the red jersey on Tuesday. "We finally had a good overview and sailed ourselves free better than before," said the Kiel-based helmswoman, who had been in eighth place the day before. Currently leading the field are Georgia and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance from Canada, ahead of the British pair Freya Black/Saskia Tidey.
The 470 fleet continues to shine in German colors. The Paris Olympians, Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort, not only won the last race of the day but also retained their first-place position. Only in the sixth race, when the sea breeze picked up, did they drop to 13th place. "We bet on the wrong horse there," Diesch admitted. After that, the favorites sailed steadily again. "Make good decisions and stay quick on your feet," said Anna Markfort, outlining the upcoming strategy. This also applies to the chasing pack, led by Malte Winkel and Bente Batzing (Germany), who are lurking just ahead of the Swedish Liljegren team.
Olympic medalists John Gimson and Anna Burnet dominate the Nacra 17 class. In the multihull class, the British duo has won four out of five races so far and remains undefeated. Behind them are the Swedish crew of Järudd/Jonsson and the Australians Ruben and Rita Booth.
Danish sailor Tue Steen Anderson and his "Al Capone 2.0" crew are in a class of their own at the International German Inshore Championship in offshore sailing. Three flawless daily victories gave the team, sailing a Fast 40+ in the ORC A/B class, a four-point lead over their compatriots on the "Dixi 5" with helmsman Erik Stannow. Lars Hidde from Hamburg, sailing the "Pure," trails by five points heading into the final day.
In ORC C/D, the podium was initially an all-German affair. But Michael Berghorn lost the lead with his "Halbtrocken 3.1," after a disqualification because his crew apparently exceeded the weight limit during the weigh-in. Benefit went to "Niramo" skippered by Sönke Meier Sawatzki and Johannes Wackerhagen (both from Kiel), who steered the "Lil'Desna" to two wins of the day on the racecourse in similarly light northeasterly winds. Third overall is Swede Patrick Forsgren skippering "Garmin Team Pro4U".