Kieler Woche 2018 - Day 2

Royal Danish Yacht Club, helmed by former Olympian Henriette Koch, moves ahead of fellow Danes representing Hellerup Sejlklub, at day two of the first ever event in the Women's Sailing Champions League. © www.segel-bilder.de / Kiel Week

All the frustrations of the previous day were quickly forgotten as the huge array of sailors and classes at Kieler Woche enjoyed a spectacular day's racing in Kiel Bay. With the wind blowing 18-20 knots from the south-west, the sailors and race organisers couldn't have asked for anything better.

The incredible thing about Kiel Week is the sheer breadth and depth of sailing competition, ranging from the big keelboats down to the smallest dinghies. The return race from Eckernförde to Kiel, brought the first part of offshore sailing to Kiel Week to a spectacular conclusion.

Around 300 boats competed in the offshore race, and first home were the M32 catamarans, with 'Itelligence' and the Danish crew on 'Black Marlin' engaged in a high-speed duel all the way to the finish. It was a family affair on Itelligence with the former Olympic campaigners, Helge and Christian Sach racing together, crewed by Christian's sons Johann and Anton - making the step up from Optimist dinghies to bouncing around the trampoline of the M32 at in excess of 20 knots' boat speed.

Up near the front of the fleet were the five ClubSwan 50 racer-cruisers that are competing in Kieler Woche before heading out on the 1,000 nautical mile offshore challenge, the Nord Stream Race, which takes the fleet from Germany through the Baltic to St Petersburg in Russia.

It was day two of the first ever event in the Women's Sailing Champions League with the Danish crews continuing to fare well against their international competition. The Royal Danish Yacht Club entry, helmed by former Olympian Henriette Koch, moves ahead of fellow Danes representing Hellerup Sejlklub.

In the 128-strong 29er skiff fleet, three different Scandinavian nations hold the top three places. The Norwegians Mathias Nerthet / Alexander Franks Penty hold the lead ahead of Oscar Engström / Hugo Westberg (Sweden) and the Danish crew of Frederik Fomsgaard / Mads Fuglbjerg.

Not only does Holger Jess fit out the fastest 505s in the World, he has won the Worlds a few times crewing for Wolfgang Hunger and has also won Kieler Woche nine times. If he can hold on to the lead with this year's helmsman Michael Quirk, then this will be Jess's 10th victory on his home waters.

If Christoph Homeier was struggling to kickstart his Contender on day one, the German was firing on all cylinders in the strong winds of today, scoring two bullets and two second places he put himself at the head of the field in front of the Danish sailmaker Jesper Nielsen.

There are many other fleets in the midst of their competitions right now.

You can check out all the results here.

Kieler Woche, which takes place from 16 to 24 June, divides into two halves. The first half which began today is all about the international classes and is mostly about keen amateur sailors competing against each other. Across the whole nine days, Kieler Woche will host more than 4,000 sailors from 60 nations, competing in more than 1,900 sailing boats.

www.kieler-woche.de