Only 49erFX and Aalregatta kick off at Kiel Week

After a severe thunderstorm passed through overnight, the forecast for the first day was better than reality. By mid-morning, the sun had broken through the clouds over land, and thermals battled the gradient wind from the southwest. This resulted in enormous wind shifts and large windless patches on almost all racecourses. Only close to shore off Schilksee were the conditions fair enough. And KielerWoche.TV was able to broadcast three exciting 49erFX races live.

Canadians Georgia and Antonia Lewin-LaFrance got off to a fantastic start. With two wins in the blue group, they immediately took the lead. Their subsequent twelfth-place finish was then discarded. “It was tricky. We had to be incredibly careful every second not to be caught off guard,” the coxswain summarized the race day, in which Helen Pais and Helen Ausman from Tallinn finished second, just one point behind.

Jule Ernst and Lea Adolph from Bavaria pulled off a surprise, finishing fifth and becoming the best German team. Fellow favorites and Olympic fifth-place finishers Marla Bergmann and Hannah Wille from the Mühlenberger Sailing Club finished tenth. Their Kiel rivals, Maru Scheel and Freya Feilcke, came in twelfth.

The more than 200 boats participating in the Aalregatta experienced a long day at sea. The first yachts set off on the approximately 35 nautical mile journey at 9:05 a.m., the last at 10:30 a.m. When the finish line closed at 7:00 p.m. in front of the Eckernförde town harbor, not everyone had finished within the time limit. After almost four hours, Gerhard Clausen’s (Hamburg) “Calypso” was the first ship home, but this was only enough for third place in the ORC Group A/B. Ralf Lässig won with “Xenia,” narrowly beating Sven Zoller’s “Bajazzo.” Harald Brüning from Kiel took first place in ORC Group C/D with “Topas.”

A mere eight seconds separated the winning duo in the ORC Double-Handed category from their pursuers. Local favorites Jonas Hiller and Lea Spitzmann triumphed aboard “Voyage,” ahead of Patrick Heinrichs and Jan Findeisen on “Lynx.” At the International German Inshore Championship, part of the Viking Challenge along with two Scandinavian regattas, the boats even went to the protest room after crossing the finish line. Ultimately, Erik Stannow’s “Dixi 5” from Denmark emerged victorious in ORC A/B, ahead of Norway’s Jan Sverre Hoiden on “Son of Hurricanes.” Patrik Forsgren from Sweden won ORC C/D aboard “Garmin Team Pro4u,” ahead of Torsten Bastiansen (Flensburg) on ​​”Alsydbank.”

Many family crews and recreational teams competed for victory in the Aalregatta, using the Yardstick handicap system. The fastest boat on corrected time, returning home, was the “Concordia” with helmsman Philipp Zülsdorf from the Eckernförde Sailing Club. Jan von der Bank from Eutin, a long-time international top performer in the Contender class, including at Kiel Week, demonstrated his skill with Wiebke Siemsen on his Berckemeyer 31 Classic, winning the Yardstick rating for two-person crews with ease.

Text and images courtesy of Kieler-Woche.