“That was absolutely fantastic, the best stage,” said Shirley Robertson (Great Britain). The two-time Olympic champion thanked the enthusiastic Kiel audience with elegant and daring actions on a hull right in front of the keel line.
Crew member Fraser Brown definitely wants to come back to Kiel with the iShares Cup: “In Lugano we had bad sailing conditions and hardly any spectators, in Hyères there was good sailing without spectators, in Cowes it was super windy and no spectators, and here in Kiel it was it's good sailing and lots of spectators. That was the best here."
Maybe Kiel winner Ed Baird would have said exactly the same thing, but the America’s Cup winner and his Alinghi were initially involved in a protest negotiation. The British America’s Cup project "TeamOrigin" suffered. The hard-working British - before Kiel at the head of the series - had to give up after a collision and be dragged ashore as quickly as possible. The "Holmatro" had rushed into the stern of the British by the jibing bucket in the absence of any alternative. The fact that this did not exist was not only due to the "Alinghi", which gave the "Holmatro" no room to evade, in the opinion of "Holmatro" skipper Andreas Hagar (Austria). The piquant thing about the situation is that the three best teams from three stages so far were involved in the discussion. Behind the "TeamOrigin", whose damaged stern quickly drew water, "Alinghi" and "Holmatro" were one point ahead of the Kiel event. The good thing about sailing, however, is that there are also Solomonic solutions, because the jury attributed the average of previous placements to "TeamOrigin" as compensation. Now the "Holmatro" has "the buck", because Hagar and his team were only eighth in Kiel after being disqualified as a result of the collision. Baird, who impressed with precise maneuvers and perfect boat handling, was delighted with the iShares Cup in Kiel: “This is the right way to make sailing attractive for the public. I enjoyed that."
With ten to twelve knots of wind, a bright blue sky and plenty of sun, the ten teams of the iShares Cup from six nations had a perfect final day. The icing on the cake were the spectators, who provided a magnificent backdrop and cheered on the sailors on their high-tech catamarans with loud enthusiasm. Tornado aces Roland Gäbler and André Keil also made a significant contribution to this, commenting on the races in an easy-to-understand and entertaining way. Gäbler revealed his talents on the microphone.
Organizer Dirk Neumann from the Hamburg agency 4Sail Projects is completely satisfied with the premiere of the iShares Cup in Kiel: “When I think about the fact that we only called Kiel Marketing in April to ask whether the city was interested in the event, then I have to say that together with Kiel we have achieved something fantastic. There is no better way to stage sailing."
Kiel's Lord Mayor AngelikVolquartz was “absolutely happy” in view of the huge enthusiasm in the state capital. On Sunday alone, 40,000 visitors came to the keel line. With around 70,000 spectators, the iShares Cup celebrated a glamorous premiere in Kiel and made it clear how sailing can be presented in an attractive way for the public.
Final result iShares Cup Kiel after 18 races:
1. Alinghi, Skipper Ed Baird, 139
2. TeamOrigin, Robert Greenalgh, 137
3. Team Aqua, Alister Richardson, 119
4. Team BT, Nick Moloney, 113
5. Tommy Hilfiger, Randy Smyth, 105
6. Oman Sail, Pete Cumming, 104
7. JPMorgan Asset Management, Shirley Robertson, 98
8. Homatro, Andreas Hagara, 93
9. iShares, Hugh Styles, 92
10. Volvo Ocean Race, Herbert Dercksen, 71
