Kiel Week: iQFOiL gold for Germany in the very last race

Tense anticipation, jubilation, exhaustion, and disappointment were all intertwined in the close races for Kiel Week gold. Denmark (ILCA 6), Italy (ILCA 7), Great Britain (49erFX), two French teams (49er and iQFOiL women), and Germany, with Fabian Wolf in the iQFOiL, celebrated overall victories. The hosts also took home two more silver medals in the 49er and 49erFX.

The day began with Anna Munch’s golden smile. The Dane crossed the finish line in third place in the medal race in the ILCA 6, clenched her fist, and couldn’t stop laughing. Her final placing was enough for her to confidently defend her lead and thus collect Kiel Week gold ahead of Hungary’s Maria Erdi and Emma Plasschaert (Belgium). After finishing fourth a month ago at the World Championships in Qingdao, China, she has now reached the top. The former European sailor thus appears to be Denmark’s trump card for the upcoming Olympic Games and could follow in the footsteps of Anne-Marie Rindom, who won three medals for Denmark at the last three Games.

The celebrations were less euphoric shortly afterward among the ILCA 7 men. Italian Lorenzo Brando Chiavarini needed a few minutes and some help from his coaches to realize that fifth place in the final had been enough for the overall victory. Then he gave it his all: “It was a tough week. I’m very happy, I gave it my best. Thanks to Kiel. It’s great to now have this iconic event in the books as a winner.”

His reservation about his own finish was due to a botched pre-start phase: “I was late, and my young compatriot Dimitri Peroni had a good start. I then did everything I could to catch up with him.” He succeeded: Although Peroni won the medal race, he had to settle for second place overall, ahead of Finn Lynch from Ireland. After finishing fourth in the final race, Philipp Buhl from Allgäu also finished fourth overall.

While the yellow jersey winners in the dinghy classes took their lead to the finish, the German women in the 49erFX were denied gold. After the DSV squad dominated the field of skiff sailors every day, the British pair Freya Black/Saskia Tidey ultimately prevailed. “The medal race went perfectly for us,” said a delighted helmswoman Black. “We were desperate to win because the points were so close,” added crew member Tidey. And their plan worked. While the German crews stumbled, the Union Jack sailed ahead. “It was cool to sail in these varied conditions over the past few days – absolutely classic Kiel Week weather,” said Freya Black.

The chance of gold was lost for the leaders after the fleet races, the Bavarians Sophie Steinlein/Catherine Bartelheimer, at the first gate. “We were blocked by the Australian team and couldn’t jibe,” reported Sophie Steinlein. So they only managed to enter the gate with difficulty and had to line up at the very back of the field of ten. They fought their way up two places before the finish. Eighth place was enough to salvage silver – ahead of the Canadian sisters Georgia and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance, who are coached by German coach Thomas Berg. “We’re happy to take the silver. It’s our first Grand Slam medal as a team. Unfortunately, we didn’t sail the medal race as well as we had in the previous races,” said Steinlein.

The newly crowned European champions Marla Bergmann/Hanna Wille (Hamburg) finished fourth. “It was important for us to prove ourselves in these conditions. We took a long break and are currently in the middle of our studies. Our return with the European Championship title went really well. But the conditions were exactly right for us,” said Marla Bergmann.

Germany also took silver in the men’s skiff off Kiel. In the shifting winds off Schilksee, the positions changed constantly during the final, and with them the overall ranking. In the end, the French pair Erwan Fischer/Clément Pequin, who had started the Kiel Week with a boat failure but then mounted a strong comeback over the five days, secured gold ahead of the Bavarians Jakob Meggendorfer/Andreas Spranger and Hernan Umpierre/Fernando Diz (Uruguay). “That was very good training for the World Championships in the fall, which is our target competition. We have to keep pushing for that. But the victory here is a great way to get back into the racing world,” said Erwan Fischer. The changeable weather in Kiel fit his plan perfectly: “We’re used to that from Brittany.”

The Germans had tried to challenge for gold in the final, but were ultimately happy with silver: “In such a close final and with the shifting winds, anything can happen. We were already counting on it during the race. It quickly became clear that we had the Uruguayans behind us, but we couldn’t attack the French anymore,” said helmsman Meggendorfer. His crew added: “A Grand Slam medal is a welcome win. It’s a boost for the rest of the season, with the World Championships as the highlight.”

The iQFOiLers enjoyed intense surfing fun at the end of the Kiel Week on the east side of the Kiel Fjord. In the women’s Medal Series final, three races were needed to award the medals – for the men, it was even four. The best after the preliminary round, Marion Couturier in the women’s category and Fabian Wolf (Kiel) in the men’s category, were initially unable to use their point advantage in the final to make a quick run to gold in the gusty and shifting winds. In two races with constantly changing leads, Couturier initially had to watch as her compatriots Ambar Papazian and Lucie Belboch drew level on points. Only the young Kiel native Sophia Meyer remained unsuccessful in the final round and, after a strong week, only came fourth. In the end, Couturier used her third chance to secure the all-important victory. Ambar Papazian secured silver ahead of Lucie Belboch. After a strong week, Sophia Meyer was left with only the wooden medal.

In the men’s competition, Fabian Wolf, having won the preliminary round, entered the final with one point already. But then his competitors Tomasz Romanowski (Poland), Skip Brüll (Netherlands), and Gunhak Choi (South Korea) gradually gained victory. So it all came down to a big showdown. In the fourth final, the quartet was determined to win! The first to cross the line would also be the overall winner.

And in this all-important race, Germany finally achieved the long-awaited gold. Fabian Wolf perfectly hit the starting line in the middle of the field, raced toward the first barrel at high speed, was the first to jibe, and then nailed the angles and laylines. This allowed him to keep his competitors at bay at the right and crucial moment, maintain the lead, and fly across the finish line as the winner.

The Kiel native’s celebrations almost died down. He was exhausted. His tongue was sticking out, indicating how much he was gasping for air and water. On the coach’s motorboat, he calmed down and was only slowly able to give way to the joy of this great victory on his way to the 2028 Olympic Games. Tomasz Romanowski took silver, and Gunhak Choi took bronze.

There was an Italian double victory at the ILCA 6 Men’s World Championship, which was sailed parallel to the Olympic classes during Kiel Week. Alessandro Cirinei approached the final day with great restraint, avoiding a mistake that would jeopardize his large lead. An eighth and an eleventh place finish were ultimately enough for him to secure first place. Even a win on the final day wasn’t enough for his compatriot Nicolo Giuseppe Cassitta to overtake him. But even his silver was a clear win over third-placed Ukrainian Semen Khashchyna. The best German in this field of 124 young aces preparing to transition to the Olympic ILCA7 was Levian Büscher from Düsseldorf, who finished ninth.

While Kiel Week ended for six Olympic disciplines, two opened the second half. The 470s and Nacra 17s took to the track in the afternoon. They were followed from Thursday by ten international dinghy and keelboat classes, all of whose competitions conclude on Sunday. After two 470 races, the British pair Martin Wrigley/Bettine Harris have taken the lead. The best German team is Malte Winkel/Paula Schütze in sixth place. A British team also sets the tone in the Nacra 17. The successful John Gimson/Anna Burnet secured two wins in three races.

Text and images courtesy of Kieler Woche. Read more on the Kiel Week website.