2026 29er World Championship at Kiel, Germany - Day 2
by International 29er Class 5 Jul 11:33 PDT
3-9 July 2026
Racing at the 29er World Championships in Kiel opened the second day with a demanding start across Course Areas Alpha, Beta, and Charlie, as fleets headed out for the fourth qualifying race.
Conditions rapidly intensified during the opening race, with wind building steadily from an already solid breeze into a sustained 25 knots, with gusts pushing beyond 30 and peaking up to 35 knots. The Baltic Sea inside the Kiel Fjord turned increasingly rough, producing spectacular and high-adrenaline images of the 29er fleet in full control mode.
All six fleets managed to complete the race just in time before the Race Committee made the call to send the fleet back ashore, deeming the conditions too extreme to continue. AP over H was hoisted, officially ending racing for the day and prioritising safety.
At the top of the leaderboard, Argentina's Team pairing Felix Llauro and Lucas Cozar (ARG 21) remain in control of the standings. After scoring three consecutive bullets on Day 1, they add a third place in today's only race and finish the day on just three points overall after discard.
Moving up into second overall are Sweden's Henric Wigforss and William Drakenberg (SWE 3254), who delivered a strong performance by taking the race win in white fleet and climbing the leaderboard.
Great Britain's Jac Bailey and Ben Sinfield (GBR 25), second overall after Day 1, slip one position but remain tied on points after discarding a sixth place today.
In the Green Fleet, New Zealand's Nelson Meacham and Oli Stone (NZL 3496) claimed the race win, sitting fourth overall and tied on points with the teams in second and third.
A German-Norwegian pairing, Maximilian Von Geyr and Jonathan Jaksjø (GER 2955), also secured a fleet win in the Blue group, finishing the day in fifth overall with just six points.
Just one point behind sit New Zealand's Matteo Barker and Leo Brown (NZL 3022), tied on points with Germany's David Plettner and Moritz Aigner (GER 3501). France's Alexandre Mostini and Raphaël Allain (FRA 6) follow in eighth, ahead of Hungary's Mór Csekovszky and Martin Istvan Zarandy (HUN 14).
Argentina not only leads the overall standings but also closes the top ten with another strong team performance from Máximo Baudoino and Juan Cernadas (ARG 3330).
Despite a top ten currently dominated by all-male teams, mixed crews continue to make their mark just outside it. The standout performance came from the USA's Julia Sitzmann and Anton Schmid (USA 3458), who delivered a second place in the White Fleet and sit just one point outside the top ten.
A special mention also goes to Czech sailors Karolína Lojková and Kristian Besuzek (CZE 3570), currently 33rd overall but already highlighted by a bullet race win earlier in the event, earning attention with both speed and smiles.
In 20th place overall, on 12 points, are the Danish pair Emmeli Gramkov and Sofie Andersen (DEN 17), currently the top-ranked female team. With a 4th place finish today, they managed to gain a single point on their closest rivals, Poland's Blanka Sójkowska and Julia Nagórska (POL 3488). After delivering an outstanding performance yesterday, the Polish team faced a more challenging day on the water today. As the scores clearly show, the fleet remains incredibly tight, with minimal margins separating the teams.
Back ashore, sailors and coaches waited for further updates before the Race Committee officially confirmed the end of racing at 15:45 due to excessive wind. The fleet now looks ahead to tomorrow's start at 10:00, with four races scheduled in an attempt to recover lost opportunities from today.
After the racing and some time ashore, athletes and coaches attended a dedicated presentation by Sailteck on its compass-based data analysis system, which can be integrated with multiple smart sailing analytic platforms within Vantage Sailing, our new partner.
The session was followed by an Open Forum led by Dominika Vadurová, and a technical presentation on jib developments by Federico Garcia.
Racing resumes tomorrow as the qualifying series continues to unfold and the fleet heads toward the split into final groups.