"Rough Sailing at Kiel Week" - Sailors Slam Windy Conditions and Disorganization
Torment and harsh condemnation pour down on the dismal Kieler week
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"Wasted Potential": Monday's stormy weather forced mass capsizes and led to organizational struggles, leaving participants bitterly disappointed. Despite promising conditions, races were called off, and sailors voiced their frustration on social media.
The second windy day at Kiel Week brought chaos both on the water and ashore. Anchors from start ships broke free once again, making it difficult to conduct races for the International German Championship (IDM) of sailors and on the dinghy courses.
Sailors competing in the Olympic Ilca-7 class faced even more frustration as their start ship drifted aimlessly in the 20-25 knot winds. As a result, they waited so long after just one race that they decided to head back to the harbor on their own. The race committee followed suit.
The previous day, Ilca-7 sailors had prepared for four races but were forced to return to the Olympic Center Kiel-Schilksee after only two runs due to "optimum conditions," according to sailor Philipp Buhl. Buhl's verdict? "This is a tragedy and not Olympic-worthy."
Buhl, along with other sailors in the class, refused to mount an on-board camera after being asked to do so, as no balancing weight was available for boats without cameras.
"Surviving the Storm"
The ill-equipped start boat for strong winds also left competitors upset on the sea course, as the anchor failed to hold. Similar issues had surfaced the previous day, but the race committee had unsuccessfully attempted to exchange the start boat. After only one race instead of the hoped-for three, it was all over prematurely.
Jürgen Klinghardt, owner of the third-placed "patent 4," said, "We feel we've been robbed of the chance to still decide the IDM Inshore in our favor." Other teams also expressed their dissatisfaction with the limited sports program given their efforts. In the large ORC class, the Danish "Formula X" emerged victorious, while Torsten Bastiansen's "Sydbank" from the Flensburg Yacht Club took first place in the small class.
On Wednesday, the half-way point of Kiel Week will feature medal races in six Olympic disciplines.
After an abrupt weather change on Monday, Kiel Week witnessed lost start ships, anchors, mass capsizes, and race cancellations due to rain and storm. About half of the planned races had to be postponed to the following day. "The wind was insane. It was a fight for survival out there," said helmswoman Elena Stoltze, who participated in the Olympic 49erFX.
Source: ntv.de, dpa
- Kiel
- Storm
*### Additional Information:###Reports from June 2025 refer to the Kiel Week events of that year, indicating generally positive sailing conditions with good results for competitors, especially German crews[1]. Another source from June 2025 mentions the Kiel Week finale experiencing "harsh conditions with stormy gusts and heavy rain showers," without specifying the year[5].
However, no direct evidence or detailed report from the 2022 Kiel Week explicitly describes "harsh criticism" or "unsuitable conditions" for the Olympic sailing races. No specific critical commentary or complaints about the 2022 Kiel Week sailing race conditions were found in the sources provided, and therefore, any claim of harsh criticism or unsuitable conditions for the 2022 event appears unsubstantiated.
In summary, Kiel Week 2022 sailing conditions and race organization details are not explicitly criticized in the sources. Recent Kiel Week editions (2025) had some challenging weather but also very good sailing days[1][5]. No record of official harsh criticism or widespread complaints related to Olympic class races at Kiel Week 2022 is available from the sources provided.
- The sailors competing at Kiel Week expressed their frustration over the windy conditions, especially on the second day, which caused chaos on the water and ashore and led to the cancellation of races in various classes, including sports like the Olympic Ilca-7.
- Despite promising weather for sports competitions, the windy conditions during Kiel Week disrupted much of the race program, leaving many sailors disappointed and venting their dissatisfaction on social media.
