Kieler Woche Day 8: Mourniac & Retornaz take the lead in the Nacra 17 class
by Kieler Woche 28 Jun 05:18 NZST
21-29 June 2025
Frenchmen Tim Mourniac and Aloise Retornaz took the lead in the Nacra 17 at Kieler Woche © Sascha Klahn / Kieler Woche
A dream day ahead of the second weekend at the Kieler Woche regatta off Schilksee: Moderate to fresh westerly winds with strong gusts, alternating sun and clouds, provided ideal sailing conditions for all participants on Friday.
In the Olympic 470 class of the Sailing Grand Slam, Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris from Great Britain continue to dominate. However, their compatriots John Gimson and Anna Burnet had to relinquish the lead in the Nacra 17 to the French duo Tim Mourniac and Aloïse Retornaz.
In the 470 class, Spanish world champions Jordi Xammar Hernandez and Marta Cardona Alcántara made a strong statement for a medal by jumping to third place behind Beatriz Gago and Rudolfo Pires from Portugal. Meanwhile, the local mixed crews lost ground. After six races, Theresa Löffler and Christopher Hoerr are in seventh place, while Malte Winkel and Paula Schütze are in tenth.
With two race wins, Mourniac/Retornaz capped off a highly successful day and swapped their blue jerseys for the yellow leaders' jerseys at the regatta office. "With the shifting wind near the shore, we had to be extremely careful not to get caught out tactically," said the helmsman, which he clearly managed well. British Olympic silver medalists Gimson/Burnet only managed three third-place finishes, leaving them one point behind. The top Australian challengers have largely fallen out of close contention.
The ILCA 6 class, which held three races in two groups directly in front of the Schilksee pier, was the highlight of the KielerWoche.TV live broadcast, offering the audience top-notch visuals. At the halfway point, Hungary leads ahead of Thailand and India, with Benedek Héder in front of Weka Bhanubandh and Nethra Kumanan. Timmy Vassallo from Malta took the lead in the ILCA 4 class.
"It's going quite well for the first time," commented Heiko Kröger with a wink about his overall lead, as he hadn't even sailed in his usual 2.4mR class before Kieler Woche, having trained in the OK dinghy instead. "The shroud tension wasn't right, and once I confused the windward mark with the gate mark," reported the 14-times overall winner from Germany. Nevertheless, the 59-year-old extended his lead over vice world champion Christoph Trömer (GER) to four points. Norwegian Frank Huth trails by another three points.
Christoph Homeier had a stellar day in the Contender class. With two race wins, the sailor from Bremen pushed the strong international competition down the rankings. Dane Jesper Armbrust is five points behind in second, followed by Mark Bulka from Australia. "That was a lot of fun—couldn't have been better," enthused Homeier, not only about his performance but also about the conditions, though he's not yet reaching for the golden star. "If Kieler Woche ends with a podium finish, it would be a great dress rehearsal for the World Championship at Lake Garda at the end of July."
After a very bumpy start on Thursday, serial winners Scabolcs Majthenyi/András Domokos from Hungary won all three FD races and took the lead, tied on points with Kilian König and Kai Schäfers (Hannover). Niklas Edler (Sweden) narrowly defended first place in the OK dinghy class ahead of Baabii'O Flower from Canada. André Budzien from Schwerin is in third.
Despite an BFD right at the beginning, Moritz Borowiak and Noel Jonas Theiner (Schwerin) are confidently sailing toward a Kieler Woche victory in the 420 class. The Polish team of Aleksandra Wisniowska/Mateusz Budzisk is already 17 points behind in second. Danish sailor Sten Mohr had a UFD in the final race of the day in the J/70 class but remains in the lead ahead of fellow Dane Peter Buhl and Lukas Feuerherdt (Hamburg). In the J/24 class, "Schwere Jungs," the boat of Stefan Karsunke and crew (also from Hamburg), is in the lead.
At 7:05 p.m., the offshore sailors were scheduled to start their final race, heading out from Strander Bay past the harbor entrance on an overnight long-distance course around the Danish island of Langeland, which also marks the conclusion of the International German Championship in the offshore and double-handed categories.
Full results here