Kiel Week: British mixed dominance in dinghies and catamarans

After the passage of a low-pressure system that had caused some stormy conditions earlier in the week, the competitors first had to prove themselves in a light easterly breeze. The outstanding 470 duo from England apparently handled this just as well as they did the fresh to strong winds the day before. Four flawless daily victories have been recorded. “A clean slate always looks easier on paper than it was on the water,” the helmsman said, not wanting to portray himself as unbeatable.

Nevertheless, Theresa Löffler showered him with praise: “The British are already sailing extremely cleanly and flawlessly on the track.” The student was also satisfied with her own performance, especially since the opening race (11th and 6th) “was quite difficult.” Third and fourth place would be “a good starting position for the podium, the goal of the Kiel Week.” Behind the leaders are two Portuguese teams: Beatriz Gago/Rudolfo Pires and Diogo Costa/Carolina Joao. Surprisingly, the newly crowned world champions Jordi Xammar Hernandez and Marta Cardona Alcántara finished only seventh, just ahead of Malte Winkel and Paula Schütze (Kiel/Schwerin).

As expected, Olympic silver medalists John Gimson and Anna Burnet are mostly foiling at the front of the Nacra 17 field. Four of six possible stage wins, however, mean only a three-point lead over the Frenchmen Tim Mourniac and Aloise Retornaz. Both top teams have already opened up some distance from their Australian rivals. Brin Liddell/Rhiannan Brown are third, ahead of Ruben Booth and Rita Booth Ferrando. The only Germans, Josh Berktold and Zoe Coers, are struggling and are bottom of the interim standings.

On Wednesday afternoon, nine international boat classes began the second part of the Kiel Week. Series winner Heiko Kröger from Ammersbek set his sights on his 15th Kiel Week gold medal with a daily victory at the opening event. However, Christoph Trömer (Homeburg) countered and drew level. André Budzien from Schwerin was also immediately the favorite in the OK dinghy, but was immediately knocked out of the lead by Swede Niklas Edler in the second race. His fellow countryman Viktor Elfving shone in the opening ILCA 4.

In the open ILCA-6 class, competitors who had already sailed at the top of the Men’s World Championship in the first round scored points. The first group day victories went to Benedek Héder of Hungary and Weka Bhanubandh of Thailand. Mark Bulka of Australia took the first overall lead in the internationally diverse and strong contenders, ahead of Antonio Lambertini (Italy) and Christoph Homeier (Bremen), who had the same number of points.

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