The Hydroptère Team left Cowes with some regrets after a promising record attempt around the Isle of Wight and arrived in Kiel highly motivated and ready to make the German public discover their flying carpet. During two weeks, numerous journalists, guests or visitors came to visit the boat. Between Olympic Regattas and old gaffers’ parades, l’Hydroptère amazed and left her triple wake in the 128th edition of the Kieler Woche. This year, 2000 sailboats, 4500 sailors, 50 nations et 3 millions spectators were present in the Fjord of Kiel for the biggest sailing event in the world.
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The trimaran left Cowes on Sunday 13th June and headed to Brunsbüttel, the access to the “Nord-Ostsee-Kanal”. Among Suez, Panama and Corinth this 98 kilometer long canal is one of the biggest man-made canal ever built.
On Tuesday 15th June early in the morning, l’Hydroptère emerged from the land to enter the fjord of Kiel. The light wind conditions on the first part of the route were compensated by the section off Netherlands, where l'Hydroptère could sail at an average speed of 25 knots. The total delivery between Cowes and Kiel lasted 2.5 days.
Moored at Dürstenbruck’s marina, l’Hydroptère sailed everyday in the fjord of Kiel with passenger ships, tankers and other magnificent old gaffers to join the sailing spots. As the speed limit is set at 10 knots in this long corridor, l’Hydroptère sometimes had to play cops and robbers with the local naval police, not used to arrest a sailing craft for speeding.
During the first week, the flying trimaran welcomed several German journalists on board. This is in the midst of Olympic qualification sessions that took place off Schilksee that l’Hydroptère achieved her best runs. The speedometer displayed 42.5 knots on Saturday morning which is the highest speed ever achieved in this area.
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On land, the feeling of competition was intense in the Olympic village. The numerous crews on the departure docks were all very focused on their trials. This year, nearly 50 nations gathered in Kiel to try to get a qualification for the Olympic games in London.
The second week was devoted to the organization of events along with Audemars Piguet. The Swiss watchmaking manufacture, major partner of l’Hydroptère since autumn 2009, invited several of their collaborators to sail aboard the world fastest sailing craft. Alain Thébault and Philippe Merk, CEO of the Swiss company, could share a full speed run.
On Saturday, the « great parade » that ended the Kieler Woche gathered several hundreds of sailing boats to celebrate the success of this 128th edition with all sails hoisted. l’Hydroptère participated in this parade, bringing modernity and high technology to this traditional fleet.
On Monday 28th June, the flying trimaran sailed back to the pontoon of "La Cité de la Voile Éric Tabarly” in Lorient. before departing to the south of France and taking part in “Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez”, the boat will be subject to a complete intermediary check-up.
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