Less than a month after the iQFoil European Championships in Patras, Greece, the Kieler Woche is no less than the biggest sailing event in the world. As an Olympic class, the iQFoilers will also be taking part off Schilksee. The first races can start on Saturday 17 June, followed by the Medal Race on Wednesday 21 June, in which the placings will be determined. Kieler Woche is also the International German and International German Junior Championship.
iQFoil on television at the Kieler Woche
The first possible start is on Saturday at 1 p.m., from Sunday to Tuesday the races can then start from 11 a.m. onwards. The Medal Races on Wednesday will be scheduled at short notice. The sea area in the Kiel Fjord and Bay of Kiel is divided into several regatta courses, with the iQFoil fleet starting on the "Juliett" course north-east of the Bülk lighthouse. On Tuesday, however, the windsurfers will move to the "Hotel" course, the TV course directly in front of the Olympic Centre. The races will then be broadcast live on the internet from around 10.45 am to 2.30 pm on Kieler Woche.tv and later in the afternoon there will be a delayed broadcast on free TV on Sport1.
In the year leading up to the Olympic Games, many iQFoil riders are focussing on the Olympic test event in Marseille in July and the World Championships in The Hague in August. This is where points are collected for qualification and Olympic tickets are already awarded. That is why the field of iQFoilers in Kiel is manageable - 24 men and nine women are registered shortly before the start. As a result, both fleets will take to the water together. Sebastian Kördel, the reigning world champion, European runner-up and great Olympic hopeful, will of course be taking part in the home event. Fabian Wolf, who has just finished third at the IFCA European Championships, Jonne Heimann, Lars Poggemann, Jakob Ditzen, Tjalve Böttger, Elias von Maydell and Elias Fauser are also registered. Theresa Steinlein, Lena Haverland, Sophia Meyer and Alisa Engelmann will be competing in the women's field. Lena Erdil, last year's Kiel Week winner, is focussing on the World Championships in The Hague.
The places are only awarded in the Medal Races
As is usual in iQFoil, up to 16 heats can be run, culminating in the Medal Series. Places ten to four then go through to the quarter-finals, with the top two then meeting the second and third of the heats in the semi-finals. In the final, the first two semi-finalists meet the leader of the heats to determine the final ranking.
Sebastian Kördel was unlucky last year at Kieler Woche: after nine wins in nine heats, he had to give way to Ethan Westera in the final. "The format is good and exciting for the spectators. The athlete sometimes falls by the wayside," said Kördel at the time. The world champion also dominated the entire event at the European Championships in May, but Nicolo Renna came out on top in the final and took the title.
You can find out everything about iQFoil at Kieler Woche here on surf-magazin.de. You can find out more about the sailing competitions in the big Kieler Woche special in our sister magazine YACHT
Freestyle in the centre of the city
In addition to the official iQFoil regattas off Schilksee, the freestylers' tow-in will once again take place at the boat harbour. In the centre of the city, against an impressive backdrop, some of the best riders show off their moves. They will be pulled by a winch. It starts on Thursday, 22 June and Saturday, 24 June at around 8 pm.
