June 30, 2025
8 minutes reading time
Winners from seven nations shine at the Kiel Week finale
On the final sailing day of Kiel Week 2025, there were beaming faces all around the Schilksee Olympic Center. Eleven decisions were still made on Sunday, June 29, and in addition to Germany, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Malta, Sweden, and Hungary celebrated victories at the world's largest sailing event.
Participants from 65 nations could look back on eventful days and a high-class, multifaceted regatta. In sometimes challenging sailing conditions at the lower and upper wind limits, well over 90 percent of the scheduled races were sailed in 29 classes. A total of 354 races took place. This was also due to the fact that Kiel Week expanded to a total of 14 courses with the new Mike and November courses, with up to nine courses being used simultaneously. “The concept of a second area for the surfing disciplines on the eastern shore of the fjord was a complete success,” said a delighted organiser, Dirk Ramhorst.
The Olympic iQFOiL class and the up-and-coming wing foilers raved about their new home in Stein. Lena Erdil, who oversaw the organizational aspects of the event on the east side of the Kiel Fjord, is confident that the spot will continue to develop in the coming years. “This year was a great start, and word will certainly spread. If the scheduling of the classes works out, we hope for growing fields,” said Lena Erdil. “In terms of seaweed, the use of the ‘Seekuh’ as a collecting vessel has been very helpful.”
In Schilksee, the Olympic disciplines crowned their medal winners. Numerous fans watched the medal races live on KielerWoche.TV. Around 100,000 enthusiastic guests visited the regatta village in Schilksee during the week. With a view to a possible Olympic bid for 2036, 2040, or 2044, organizing director Dirk Ramhorst expressed satisfaction, echoing what many participants had confirmed: “Kiel is ready for the Olympics!”
This enthusiasm for the area and the organisation permeated the classes and the various participants. “It’s great to see that Kiel Week offers such a fantastic show to the athletes who have traveled here,” said Anna Markfort, the newly crowned 470 Vice World Champion, who commented on the races of her 470 competitors as a TV expert at Kiel Week. Due to other commitments of her helmsman, Simon Diesch, she herself was unable to attend the home event and therefore contributed her expertise as a commentator.
Their warm congratulations went out to the British Kiel Week winners, Martin Wrigley/Bettine Harris. “We’re looking forward to spending the summer with them, as we’ve arranged to train together in England.” The British World Championship bronze medalists celebrated a convincing Kiel Week victory with their victory in the final medal race, ahead of the reigning world champions Jordi Xammar Hernandez/Marta Cardona Alcantara (Spain) and Diego Costa/Carolina Joao (Portugal).
“We are very happy to be here. It’s one of the best events in the world, a super competition, well organized. And you have to be a very good sailor to be successful here. That’s exactly what makes it so cool,” said the Spanish world champion team Hernandez/Alcantara.
In the second Olympic mixed class, sailed during the second half of Kiel Week, France celebrated victory. Tim Mourniac/Aloise Retornaz successfully defended their lead in the Nacra 17 catamaran in a thrilling final against John Gimson/Anna Burnet (Great Britain) and Brin Liddell/Rhiannan Brown (Australia).
The international classes were particularly pleased. They enjoyed excellent conditions during the second half of Kiel Week, with strong winds that particularly challenged the athleticism of the sailors.
Heiko Kröger (Bad Segeberg) has been consistently in top form and always ready for a win for around three decades now. The multi-talented sailor, a 2000 Paralympic champion, has discovered other classes besides his regular class, the inclusive 2.4mR. So this time he had to decide what he wanted to sail. “Unfortunately, the OK dinghies and the 2.4mR were parallel to each other. I would have liked to sail both classes. The OK dinghy is a great boat, but I still need to get used to it,” said Kröger, who preferred the 2.4mR.
And with success! A series of first and second places brought him victory number 15 at the Kiel Week. Even before the final day, he radiated happiness and satisfaction: “We had great races. The wind and courses were good, and we had minimal waiting times between races. Everything went smoothly.” The internationally experienced sailor also commented on the criticism voiced by others at the beginning of the week: “Even if one can partly understand the displeasure about canceled races, one must keep things in perspective. The conditions were anything but ordinary. The important thing is to learn from them – and that’s what happens at the Kiel Week. We’re used to something different internationally.” Kröger ultimately won ahead of Christoph Trömer (Plau) and Frank Huth (Norway).
A top-class international field competed in the OK dinghies. The fleet of 50 participants featured the world’s best – with a tough duel between the Swedish Kiel Week defending champion Niklas Edler and three-time world champion André Budzien from Schwerin. Edler entered the final two races with a small points cushion, but had to fend off strong attacks from the Schwerin sailor. Before the final race, Budzien was within one point, but the Swede countered and ultimately secured Kiel Week gold with another top result. “That was a very good test for the World Championship in September, because the top ten in the world were here. Anyone who is at the top here at the Kiel Week can also be at the top at the World Championships,” said Edler.
While the Swede is skipping the European Championships for the Warnemünde Week, Budzien has turned his attention entirely to the major event in his home state of Mecklenburg. “I’m very happy with second place. It was a good test for the equipment, as I have a new boat. I still need to fine-tune the speed a bit, but overall, everything’s going well.” With two spotless victories on the final day, Canadian Baabii’O Flower worked his way up to third place for the Kiel Week.
In the Contender, Christoph Homeier has proven himself a very strong candidate for German success at the World Championships at the end of July on Lake Garda. The Bremen native prevailed confidently against the assembled world elite, managing to afford two fifth-place finishes in the end, yet still maintaining a clear lead over multiple European champion Jesper Armbrust (Denmark) and the 2022 Australian world champion, Mark Bulka. “I probably made fewer mistakes than the others. So maybe I was a bit lucky,” Homeier said cautiously – also with a view to the World Championships, where he won silver two years ago: “A medal there would be great. Is the title possible? You can’t plan something like that. For now, I’m just happy about the Kiel Week victory. That was a lot of fun.”
Hungarians Szabolcs Majthenyi/András Domokos in the Flying Dutchman are long-time contenders for a Kiel Week victory. “This would be their ninth or tenth win. We don’t know exactly. But it was probably the toughest: We had really strong winds on three of the four days. Especially on the penultimate day with four races, it was very exhausting,” said helmsman Majthenyi. Together with his crew, he defied a disqualification for a jump start in the first race and still finished in first place with six race wins.
The 14-time world champions from Hungary were delighted with their victory, as they were able to take revenge on Kilian König/Kai Schäfers (Hannover/Edersee). They had won the World Championship for the first time this year and finished second ahead of Kiel. Malte Burkert/Stephan Handick (Hannover) finished third.
In the two keelboat and three junior classes during the second half of Kiel Week, there were three German, one Danish, and one Maltese victory. The Hamburg team led by Stefan Karsunke had a clear victory in the J/24 class. The self-proclaimed “Heavy Boys,” as their boat was called, didn’t even need to compete in the final race to take the overall victory ahead of the teams led by Till Pomarius and Hauke Krüss (both Hamburg).
Danish professional Sten Mohr was also in a class of his own in the J/70. Although he had to overcome a disqualification for a jump start, he didn’t allow himself any slip-ups in the remaining ten races. And that’s precisely what separated the Danes from their closest rivals, Kai-Uwe Hollweg (Bremen) in second place and third-placed Michael Grau (Hamburg). They each had to settle for a mediocre finish, thus ranking behind Sten Mohr.
The performance of the young Maltese sailor Timmy Vassallo in the Ilca4 was impressive. The man from the Mediterranean island achieved eight wins in ten races. Following at a respectable distance were Norwegian Mats Silva Østvold and Viktor Elfving from Sweden.
German victories were recorded in the ILCA 6 and 420. Levian Büscher (Düsseldorf) prevailed in the final of the junior class of the Olympic ILCA against Brazilian Stefano Siebert Francavilla and Hungarian Benedek Héder. A double victory for the black, red, and gold team was achieved in the 420. Moritz Borowiak/Noel Jonas Theiner from Schwerin claimed their second Kiel victory in three weeks, following their success at the YES Regatta. They were followed by Jacob Cross/Finn Weigt (Rheingau) and Filip Nosol/Filip Marjanski (Poland).
Text and images courtesy of Kieler Woche. Read more on the Kiel Week website.