Warm temperatures and near-perfect conditions greeted competitors at Kiel Week on Friday, with racing across nine international classes.
Hungary's Szabolcs Majthenyi and András Domokos lead the Flying Dutchman class after two race wins. Germany's Kay-Uwe Lüdtke and Kai Schäfers sit second, giving them a genuine shot at a third world title to add to their victories in 2022 and 2024. Nicola and Francesco Vespansiani of Italy are third, while Danish brothers Jørgen and Jacob Bojsen-Møller dropped from first to fifth.
In the 29er, Poland leads Australia and Argentina on the interim podium ahead of Saturday's Gold Fleet, when the top crews will race each other for the first time. Germany's David Plettner and Moritz Aigner sit fourth overall, ten points behind the Argentinian duo of Maximo Baudoino and Juan Ignacio Cernadas, after back-to-back wins in the final two races of the day.
Sixteen-year-old Erik Scheidt, son of Brazilian legend Robert Scheidt (five Olympic medals), won two of four ILCA 6 races on Friday and will carry the yellow jersey into Saturday. "The conditions out there were very good," he said. "There's still a lot of work to be done before I can achieve the same level of success as my father," he admitted with a smile. Olympic sailor Viktorija Andrulyte of Lithuania sits second, Sweden's Viktor Elfving is third, and Germany's Luisa Helene Kloss from the Müggelsee Sailing Club is fourth.
Quirin Klapper leads the ILCA 4 after four races, though a disqualification for a premature start in race four leaves little margin for error. Nikos Beckmann from Kiel is second and Clara Mattik from Hamburg third.
Paralympic gold medallist Heiko Kröger is making his OK dinghy debut this week, and by his own account is enjoying every moment. "That was absolutely fantastic today, I had a blast," he said. "I was even in second place for a long time in the third race." The 2.4mR record holder at Kiel Week sits 17th of 47, with Sebastian Schmidt-Klügmann from Dortmund leading ahead of Danes Jesper Bendix and Steen Christensen. Italian Marco Ferrari heads the Contender fleet, followed by Max Billerbek and Australian Mark Bulka.
The wingfoil racing produced some late drama. Kiel local Yannik Holste won all three races completed, finishing 50 to 100 metres clear each time, though he noted that "any tactical errors along the way were immediately punished." Ten races had been planned, but the sea breeze shut down mid-session. Holste later learned the third race had been cancelled after it emerged nobody had sailed the correct course.
"Three great races in slightly gusty winds, and I had to give it my all to finish at the front," Holste said, adding that "suddenly the sea breeze disappeared and the gradient didn't return." Kiel Week is the only qualifying regatta for German wingfoilers aiming at the joint World Championships for Olympic two-person classes in Gdynia, Poland in mid-July next year. The DSV awards three male tickets and one for the best woman, a spot currently held by fellow Kiel local Jette Koep. "I've already tentatively requested vacation time," said Holste.
The J/70 class is locked in a tight battle between Kim Gardø Christensen and Sten Mohr, tied on points, while Willi Sörensen from Hamburg has pushed yesterday's leader Kai-Uwe Hollweg of Bremen off the podium to fourth. The J/24 is led by Dutch skipper Dirk Olyslagers.
