Kiel Week 2023 starts with Olympic sailing

The international crews of the Olympic classes will kick off Kiel Week 2023 © Sascha Klahn / Kieler Woche

The first warning on the so-called triangular courses will be given at the next Kiel Week (June 17-25, 2023) in the Olympic disciplines.

From Saturday to Wednesday, five regatta days are planned for all, with the final medal races of the best ten at the end. In contrast, most of the international classes will take place in the second part from Thursday to Sunday. This swap compared to last year, the organizing committee from the Kieler Yacht-Club announced as an important signal before the annual conference of World Sailing in Abu Dhabi.

"We want to offer the athletes optimal training opportunities before the competition in the pre-Olympic year," explains Head of Organizing Dirk Ramhorst the decision of the committee, which reflects feedback from the participants. Due to the large quantity of boats of the international part on the harbour area in Kiel-Schilksee as well as on the water, the warm-up for the Olympic aspirants had been limited before. Now they can arrive early before Kiel Week, familiarize themselves with the conditions and prepare for the important regatta. This wish was expressed especially by many foreign teams.

The Olympic competitions, all ten of which are to be held, will end with the Medal Races of the top ten starting Wednesday morning on the TV-friendly inner courses of Kiel Bay. "For the major rest of the fields, however, the regatta should not be over after the fourth day," says Fabian Bach. The Principal Race Officer also wants to offer more races for those who have placed. In addition to the Olympic disciplines, there will also be a small number of international classes in the first part in order to split the total number of participants logistically sensible and feasible. The inclusive 2.4mR class also remains set at Kiel Week. The exact split is to be announced with the Notice of Race no later than the traditional Kiel-Treff at the international water sports fair boot (January 21-29) in Düsseldorf.

Since Kiel Week is protected in World Sailing's worldwide regatta calendar from scheduling conflicts with World Championships and Continental Class Championships, sailing fans can hope for impressive starting fields. For the top sailors, Kiel is on the way from the European spring regattas to the combined World Championships of all Olympic disciplines in August in The Hague, Netherlands. The new schedule will also make Kiel Week interesting for even more nations as an Olympic qualifying event. Because from the point of view of the participants, the surrounding is also right. The professional framework conditions due to the strong team of volunteers and the integration into the summer festival were mentioned in the feedback as big plus points of the Kiel Week. The offshore sailing with the Aalregatta on the first Saturday morning to Eckernförde and the Kiel-Cup in the first half of the week remains.

Find out more at www.kieler-woche.de

For Kiel Week, all 10 Olympic classes should sail on the Kiel Fjord. In addition to the iQFoils, the kiters will also take off - photo © Sascha Klahn / Kieler Woche