| KIEL, GERMANY-(24-6-2003) Over 750 competitors have flocked to Germany to compete at
Kieler Woche. All eleven of the Olympic classes are present at the ISAF
Grade 1 Olympic classes regatta, as well as the 2.4mR Paralympic class,
although RYA Team GBR are not fully represented due to the importance of the
European championships that take place during July.
Fresh from success at the Finn European championships, team GBR sailor Ben
Ainslie will be looking to continue his stint at the top. Competition will
be hot with both the 1996 Olympic gold medallist Mateusz Kusznierwicz of
Poland, who finished runner up to Ainslie at the Europeans, and the 1996
silver medallist, Sebastien Godefroid of Belgium, all looking to challenge
for the podium places.
157 boats have made the trip to Kiel to compete in the single-handed Laser
class and competition with be tough. Team GBR sailor Paul Goodison has
medalled at every one of the Olympic class regatta's this season, with
bronze medals at SPA and Hyeres and a silver in Palma at the start of the
season. The last event saw Olympic champion and six times world champion
Robert Scheidt of Brazil top the podium - a result that Goodison will be
keen to overturn. Other team GBR sailors that will be looking for a good
result at Kiel include Dan Holman and Mark Howard.
Fresh from competing at the Tornado European championships in Italy, 62
boats will be racing in Kiel, although a number of the top sailors are not
present. Team GBR sailors Hugh Styles and Adam May scored the results when
it was needed and finished with a fifth place at the Europeans and will be
keen to continue their pace through to Kiel. Team mates Leigh McMillan and
Mark Bulkeley will be looking to continue their success at the Olympic class
regatta's after a win at SPA and Rob Wilson sailing with new crew Martin
Sellars will also be hoping for a good result in Kiel.
Competition is hotting up in the 49er class and with the European
championships only a few weeks a way, Kiel will be a good test to see who is
on form. A number of the top sailors are present at Kiel including the
Spanish pairings of Santiago Lopez-Vasquez and Javier de la Plaza and team
mates and world and European champions Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez.
After winning gold at SPA regatta last month, Chris Draper and Simon
Hiscocks will be looking to repeat their success, where they won from the
Australian pairing of Chris Nicholson and Gary Boyd who will also be present
at this event. Although team mates Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith are not
competing, Alister Richardson and crew Peter Greenhalgh and team mates
Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes will be looking to do well at this event.
Other RYA Team GBR sailors to look out for are Dom Tidey and Bryony Shaw in
the men and women's Mistral windsurfing class as well as 2.4mR sailor Andrew
Millband who will be looking to continue his success in the class after
finishing with a bronze medal at Hyeres regatta in April.
RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park commented, `Team GBR has a smaller entry at
the event due to imminent pressure of many class European championships
during July. However Kiel is an important regatta in the international
calendar and all our representatives will be hoping to continue their recent
line of success.`
Racing starts today, 25 June, and continues through until Sunday 29 June.
Daily results and news can be found on the official website
www.kieler-woche.de . A final event press
release will be issued on Sunday.
| 
