Kieler Woche 2026 - High tension ahead of the Medal Races
by Kieler Woche 23 Jun 19:14 UTC
20-28 June 2026
ILCA 7 fleet at Kieler Woche 2026 © Felix Diemer / Kieler Woche
Six different nations are on course for gold at Kieler Woche ahead of the two final medal races in the Olympic disciplines of the Sailing Grand Slam. They are Canada, Israel, Great Britain, Denmark, Italy, and host nation Germany.
However, thanks to the new Olympic format with its revised scoring system, the competition remains exciting. No one heads into the final day with a lead of more than nine points over their closest competitors. Light thermal winds are again forecast for Kiel on Wednesday (June 24).
Two eleventh-place finishes on Tuesday cost Ole Schweckendiek (Germany) the yellow jersey as overall leader in the ILCA 7, which he relinquished to Attilio Borio of Italy, who is now five points ahead. Lorenzo Mayer (France) and John Frederik Wolff (Denmark) also moved ahead of him, though both by just one point. "That's not so bad - anything is still possible in the finals," Schweckendiek said, signaling his intent to fight back.
With the maximum possible lead of nine points thanks to a race win in the seventh race, Denmark's Helena Wolff heads into the ILCA-6 finals, while her compatriot Anna Munch had a DNC. She is still in second place, ahead of Chiara Benini Floriani of Italy.
Israel's Illy Wureit and Yuval Barnoon are in pole position for 49er gold. Behind them are Joshua Richner and Nilo Schärfer from Switzerland, ahead of the Americans Nevin Snow and Ian Macdiarmid, who had to trade in their yellow jersey from the previous day for the red one. Go all in and take every risk - that must be the motto for the German Mallorca SGS winners Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger if they still want to win their first Kieler Woche medal. They are in eighth place in the skiff field after three solid races on Tuesday. "There are still two more to go. Anything can happen," said helmsman Schultheis confidently.
Despite the sheer dominance of Canadians Georgia and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance in the gold fleet, gold is still within reach in the 49erFX class for Estonians Helen Pais and Helen Ausmann, as well as for Germans Sophie Steinlein and her crew Catherine Bartelheimer. Under the new Olympic scoring system, a large lead is reduced to a catchable margin of nine points.
What had previously looked like a sure gold for the top favorites in the 470 class, Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort, is now just a narrow lead after two mediocre races on Tuesday. Behind the Olympians, two other German crews, Winkel/Batzing in blue and Löffler/Hoerr in red, are lurking, eyeing the Kieler Woche title.
The Nacra 17 class continues to be dominated by the British duo John Gimson and Anna Burnet. The Swedes Järudd/Jonsson and the Australians Ruben and Rita Booth are tied for second, clearly behind the leaders.
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