Twelve female youth sailors were invited to take part in a training camp in Kiel, Germany to learn to match race and experience the fun of sailing in the new Olympic match racing boat, the Elliott 6m. The girls were coached by Diederik Bakker, German national coach, and the Match Race Team Hamburg - Silke Hahlbrock, Maren Hahlbrock, and Kerstin Schult. The sailing was done in the Elliott 6ms owned by the German Federation and the Hamburger Segel-Club.
The three day event saw fantastic conditions with winds blowing in the 10-12 knot range - perfect for learning to match race. The days started with theoretical sessions on shore including an introduction to match racing and an introduction to sailing the Elliott 6ms. The first day of sailing saw an emphasis on boathandling and boat speed. Once the girls were familiar with the boats it was on to intricacies of match racing including the dial-up and two boat time and distance drills. The third day was filled with racing - the teams sailed a double round robin, which included on the water umpiring from International Umpire Manuel Huensch.
When asked about the weekend, Silke Hahlbrock (ranked 4th in the ISAF Women’s World Match Race Ranking List) responded: "I was impressed with how fast the girls learned and how much they improved in such a short time! I hope that some of them will stick to the match racing and I look forward to training with them in the future when the Federation will invite seven girls to come out again and train with our team."
The aim of the camp was to select girls to participate in future training camps and begin the road to Olympic match race sailing. The next generation of match racing stars? Only time will tell.
For more information, please visit:
Match Race Team Hamburg
or
German Sailing Association - Deutscher Segler Verband
