Kieler Woche - Day 5
by Andy Rice 21 Jun 2017 12:51 BST
17-25 June 2017
Robert Scheidt and Gabriel Borges sit two points off the lead after the first three races of Kieler Woche © Kieler Woche / segel-bilder.de
Robert Scheidt has won his first qualifying race at Kiel Week and after three races of the competition lies in third overall in the 49er Men's fleet. Forty-four-year-olds aren't meant to be able to race a 49er skiff that effectively but the Brazilian is applying his legendary work ethic to learn a completely new set of skills.
"I'm lucky to be sailing with Gabriel Borges who has loads of experience in the boat and we've been training hard with the other Brazilian teams at Lake Garda for two months," said Scheidt. "Today's conditions were perfect for me, but I think if the wind picks up you will see me capsizing! I have a lot to learn, many mistakes to make before I get better."
The Brazilian five-time Olympic medallist sits two points off the lead, currently held by young New Zealanders Josh Porebski and Trent Rippey, with Australia's David Gilmour and Joel Turner in second overall after three heats. Sitting a point off the podium are the Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallists and local heroes, Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel.
The breeze was light to moderate and pretty shifty close to the Schilksee shore, making it hard to achieve consistency on day one of the Olympic competition at Kieler Woche. However Greece's Vasileia Karachaliou scored a perfect day with two bullets in the Laser Radial women's singlehander. The spoils were shared much more evenly among the Men's Laser fleet of 153 sailors, with El Salvador's Enrique Arathoon one of those to win a heat. In the other singlehanded fleet, the Men's Heavyweight Finn, it's the USA's Luke Muller who holds the early lead.
With three years to go to Tokyo 2020, this is the year for trialling new partnerships and one of those already showing promise is the Netherlands' 49erFX pairing of Annemiek Bekkering and Marieke Jongens, who hold a points advantage over Rio 2016 silver medallists and 2013 World Champions from New Zealand, Alex Maloney and Molly Meech. Rio 2016 bronze medallist Thomas Zajac is back in the Nacra 17 catamaran but racing with a new crew, Barbara Matz, and so far things are going well for the Austrian duo who hold the early lead ahead of Germany's Jan Hauche Erichsen and Ann Kristin Wedemeyer.
In the 470 Men's fleet, Austria's up and coming duo David Bargehr and Lukas Mähr sit on equal points with multiple Olympic and World medal winners, Australia's Mat Belcher and Will Ryan. In the 470 Women's fleet, it's Will Ryan's sister Jaime who also sits in second overall, crewing for Carrie Smith. Holding the lead by three points is Germany's Frederike Loewe and Anna Markford.
Thursday's conditions are set for a change, with some rain expected for the first time this week, and the winds set to pick up to 15-16 knots from the west.
More information and full results at Kiel Week 2017 can be found at www.Kieler-Woche.de