Kiel Week: World’s biggest sailing regatta

The Kiel Week, one of the biggest sailing regattas in the world and the largest summer festival in Northern Europe has opened today. 4000 sailors from more than 50 countries are coming to Kiel/Germany, which is the home of Windfinder, to compete in 43 sailing classes like 470, 49er, Finn, Laser, Nacra 17, RS:X on 10 race courses from June 20 to June 28 off the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Photo © Nadine Rathjen

As the partner of Hamburg the city of Kiel wants to host the sailing competitions of the Summer Olympics in 2024 for the 3rd time after having been the venue of the Olympic’s sailing venue in 1936 and 1972. The Kiel week has lost the status of of sailing world cup in 2012 and is looking to regain this status due to some difficulties with the Intenational Sailing Federation. Hamburg’s bid for the Summer Olympics 2024 could help regain this status.

Spectators get to see daring moves and jumps at the at Ocean Jump in the city center. Windsurfers and BMX bikers compete for the world title by jumping off a 30 meter high ramp with a windsurf sail mounted to a skateboard or mountainboard or with a BMX bikes and doing crazy tricks and moves in the air before slumping into the water of the Kiel fjord.

One of the highlights of the Kiel Week is the Windjammer parade on the final weekend of the Kiel Week. The parade of more than 100 traditional and tall ship is headed this year by the German sail training ship “Gorch Fock”. The Polish three-masted full-rigged ship “Dar Mlodziezy” and the biggest traditional windjammer of the world, the Russian four-masted barque “Sedov” also belong to the official parade. The three-masted topsail schooner “Gulden Leeuw” (Golden Lion) from the Netherlands, the Kieler topsail schooner “Thor Heyerdahl” and the 5-star cruise sailors “Sea Cloud II” are also part of the maritime finale of the Kieler Woche. In addition, many other major international and traditional sailing ships, steamers and escort vehicles and many small boats and yachts cruise the Kiel fjord at the windjammer parade.

Photo © Bodo Quante

Windfinder provides a forecast and live weather from Kiel Lighthouse which is located about 5 km offshore off the coast, right in the middle of the racing areas. Check the wind, 3 hourly wind, waves and weather forecast from Kiel Lighthouse, as well as the 1-hourly superforecast and the live readings from the weather station at the lighthouse.

Photo  © Bodo Quante