Part I of Kieler Woche 2021 finishes with no wind again
by Kieler Woche 8 Sep 18:39 BST
5-11 September 2021
The sailors were ready, but once again Petrus did not mean well with them. A calm off Kiel-Schilksee prevented further races at the end of the first part of Kieler Woche. © ChristianBeeck.de
The first part of Kieler Woche 2021 ended on Tuesday (September 7th) without wind, just like the day before. The leading athletes from the perfect Sunday are also the overall winners of the 127th edition of Kieler Woche.
Four titles each went to Scandinavia and stayed in Germany. Two Danes, a Swede and a Norwegian woman took "gold".
"At least we tried. After all, we are providing services for the participants. But without wind there are no races," said Dirk Ramhorst, head of the Kieler Woche regattas, summing up a very unusual first half. Two almost completely cancelled days in a row are not new, but they have only happened very rarely in the 139-year history. At least the athletes and guests in Schilksee were treated to summer temperatures of over 20 degrees Celsius and lots of sunshine. Due to the Baltic Sea water, which was still 17 degrees warm, this in turn was hardly enough to build up a thermal breeze. "That works much better on our usual date at the end of June," says Ramhorst - which is not up for discussion anyway.
Looking at the sailing disciplines, the head of the regatta was pleased about the great popularity of the 420, Europe and ILCA 4 junior classes. The OK Dinghis are also a fixed component due to their high degree of internationality. And there is no doubt that Kieler Woche will announced the 2.4-metre again next year. Ramhorst: "And the premier of the Waszp will certainly not be a flash in the pan".
Scandinavians dominate Europe class
Three Scandinavians were on the podium in the Europe class. Although it was not enough for the Swede Sebastian Knaack to score a bullet, he nevertheless secured the overall victory with a four-point lead after six races. "I am always happy to sail in Kiel and to have won this time in the sometimes-tough conditions," said Knaack, who has competed at Kieler Woche several times before, but never so successfully. Silver and bronze went to Denmark. Simon Christoffersen finished second, two points ahead of his compatriot Simon Christiansen. The best German was Tania Tammling from Hamburg with fifth place behind Cyril Richard from France.
Narrow victory in the OK dinghies
Competitors from five nations fought for victory in the OK dinghies. Bo Petersen from Denmark won with only one point ahead of Andrè Budzien from Germany. The Dane won the first of the three races until Budzien ended the winning streak. But that was not enough for Budzien to beat Petersen. Bronze went to the Swede Benjamin Hammerö.
Contender: Danish double success
Two Danes prevailed in the Contenders. European Championship bronze medallist Søren Dulong Andreasen from Hellerup won with two points ahead of European Champion Jesper Armbrust from Aarhus. Bronze went to the German Alexander Gröhlich. World Champion Max Billerbek (Germany) was one point behind and had to settle for fourth place.
Only one flying day for the WASZPs
For the Waszp class only one day of racing was possible. Therefore, after the five races on Sunday with challenging conditions, the winner of the Waszp class was already decided. Her name is Mathilde B. Robertstad and she comes from Tønsberg in Norway. "That was a hard, long day of racing. Now I am all the more happy about the victory," she said beaming at the award ceremony. The Norwegian won by just one point ahead of local hero Adrien-Paul Farien from Kiel Yacht Club. Bronze went to Linus Rindsfüser from Switzerland.
Women on equal points better than the boys
Lilli Zellmer and Franziska Steinlein were beaming with the other winners of Kieler Woche. They were tied on points with the boys Florian Krauss and Jannis Sümmchen (all Germany) for best of the five qualifying races. Father and coach Lucas Zellmer, formerly successful in the 470, is proud: "With this, the two have also qualified for the ISAF Worlds in December." And only one crew per nation is allowed in the Sultanate of Oman. The same applies to Krauss/Sümmchen.
For Wolfgang Hunger in the 505 with Holger Jess it is already the 24th title win on his doorstep. Batbold Gruner (17) in the Laser 4.7 (ILCA 4 class) and Heiko Kröger (both Germany) repeated their successes from last year. The multiple 2.4-metre World Champion completed the dozen at Kiel Week. But there was still sailing: on the sea course there was a light wind race for the Kiel Cup of the ORC yachts.
The world champion at the front
German owner and helmsman Michael Berghorn lived up to his role as favourite in the ORC I classification group at the Kiel Cup. The newly crowned World Champion won with his Mills 45 "halbtrocken 4.5" ahead of the Dutch Ker 46 "Van Uden" with Gerd-Jan Poortman. In very light breeze, which almost completely fell asleep after one lap before the finish gate, the winner of the Welcome Race at the weekend, Torsten Bastiansen (GER), also won the Kiel Cup race to ORC II with the X-41 "Xen/Sydbank", but was behind the two larger yachts together in I&II. German Uwe Kleinvogel's Projection 762 "nemo" is the first leader in the ORC III/IV group.
On Wednesday (September 8th), the Star class want to finish their first race of the 99th World Championship and scheduled a second one in addition. The Worlds lasts until Saturday (September 11th). On the Offshore course, the Kiel Cup of the big boat sailors is coming to an end. The forecast calls for light but steadier winds than the previous two days.
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