29er European Championships during Kieler Woche 2014
by Debbie Darling 1 Jul 2014 13:36 BST
21-29 June 2014
Kieler Woche 2014 was the host venue for the 29er European Championships part of the huge 14 international classes event. With light winds & thunder storms forecast it was always likely to be a challenge to fit in 5 races each day for the 183 boat fleet. Racing was based on the 49er format with the fleet split into 4 flights & half the fleet sailing at any one time racing on two courses.
Day one began with sun & a building breeze but as the racing for red & yellow got away the wind died back to 4 knots & was won by FRA 13 & GER 2259. Race two started with 5 boats black flagged in red flight & eventually GBR 2024 took the gun whilst GBR 1987 won yellow flight. The flights swopped over & green raced in 6 knots with GBR 2305 winning comfortably whilst FIN 24 won the blue flight as the wind dropped again. Race two green was won by GER 2010 & FIN 24 again for blue. The fleets stayed out for race 3 & was won by ESP 16 & GER 2253. Whilst the wind held red & yellow came back out to complete race 3 in 6 knots & warm sunshine. Yellow was won again by ESP 16 with FRA 13 winning red.
Day two began after a postponement due to the risk of thunder storms. The fleet was re-flighted and eventually set out in 5 knots but only managed one race each. GBR 18 won the blue flight in 7 knots of breeze but as the wind died they were sent back in. Green eventually got away & was won by SLO 15, FRA 13 for red & FIN 24 for yellow.
It was a shifty 5 knot breeze for day three, but again the sun shone & storm clouds threatened. SWE 845, GER 14, SLO 15 & GBR 23 won race 5. As the wind built slightly the race teams started race 6 which was won by GBR 18, ITA 1738, AUS 6 & FRA 13. The snakes & ladders continued with race 7 won by ESP 3; SLO 15; GBR 23; GBR 2223. Rain clouds gathered & red flight raced but as thunder & lightening started all racing was abandoned for the day.
The fleet was split into gold, silver, bronze & emerald for day 4. Again storms threatened to spoil the party so racing for Gold & Silver started early after the fog cleared in 5 – 7 knots. GER 2159 took the gun from SWE 845. Silver fleet was won by GBR 2111. The wind dropped for race two after ESP 3 got away at mark one, a lead he held to the finish with AUS 6 in 2nd. GBR 1867 won Silver race two just as the storm clouds filled in & racing was abandoned for the day.
The final day dawned cloudy & grey with the usual forecast of light winds, sunny spells & thunder storms later. The race team started Bronze & Emerald fleets early in 6 knots of breeze. After a general recall for Bronze & an individual recall for emerald it was a win for GER 1582 in Bronze & Emerald ITA 1491. As the wind became even more fickle with boats becalmed at some points race 2 was won by a huge margin by FIN 2156 whilst GBR 394 won Emerald. As these fleets drifted to shore it was the turn of Gold & Silver to battle it out for the prizes.
In a patchy, shifty 5 knots 5 boats were caught black flag for the final series race 3 but it was GER 2159 who found the fast lane to lead from mark one to the finish & with the other medal contenders way behind the pressure was on. In Silver GBR 2111 won for the 2nd time & GER 2180 stole the 2nd win & climbed the results board dramatically whilst another surprise came through in the final race from SUI 2266.
It was now the final showdown for Gold but after one lap of race 4 the wind shifted 50 degrees right & the race was abandoned as GBR 2305 lead the way. This meant that there was now no chance of enough races to use a discard so every result counted. Unfortunately for the 12 boats caught black flag on the restart it was game over. FIN 24 worked the fickle breeze to win the race but a 2nd for SWE 1698 was enough to seal the championship by 2 points from GER 14. BFD for ESP 3 & AUS 6 saw them plummet down the results sheet.
Kieler Woche 2014 was an experience many of the young sailors will never forget & the conditions were testing but the winners proved that consistency pays.
Top six results from Gold fleet:
1. SWE Adrian Salamon / Julius Hallstrom
2. GER Jasper Steffens / Tom Lennart Brauckmann
3. FRA Brice Yrieix / Loic Fischer-Guillov
4. SWE Emil Järudd / Fabian Bergmann
5. SLO Peter Lin Janezic / Anze Podlogar
6. GBR Mimi El-Khazindar / Ben Batten
SILVER: NED Daan Vanormael / Vincent de Nijs
BRONZE: FIN Juho Kotiranta / Akseli Kesinen
EMERALD: AUS Emilia Horn / Andrew Briggs