The Official
Website of the
International
Sailing Federation

Since his debut performance 26 years ago, he has missed only one Kiel Week, when crewing on Abap, Hasso PLATTNER's (GER) successful offshore racing machine.

'The 125th anniversary of Kiel Week 2007 is a must for me and my crew,' said GAEBLER, a multiple European and World Champion in the Olympic Tornado class. He is looking forward to meet his former 'employer' PLATTNER again, who will helm his new 505 dinghy in the second part of the International Classes regatta from 21-24 June, which follows on from the ISAF Grade 1 Olympic Classes Regatta from 16-20 June.

From 1987, GAEBLER has won the Kiel Week title in the Tornado four times, with his crew on different occasions Frank PARLOW, René SCHWALL, and, most recently, Gunnar STRUCKMANN.

In last year's Kiel Week, GAEBLER, now 42, only finished ninth overall and consequently his is looking for a return of his winning form in 2007. GAEBLER and STRUCKMANN will be aiming to a timely confidence boost before they head to Cascais, Portugal and the ISAF Sailing World Championships from 28 June-13 July, where GAEBLER will be gunning for another Tornado World title and also aiming to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

National Battle

GAEBLER and STRUCKMANN are well prepared to face strong international competition and also have their German rivals Johannes POLGAR and Florian SPALTEHOLZ (GER), to deal with. POLGAR and SPALTEHOLZ have been on top form this year and have already qualified for the German spot at this year's Olympic Test Event in Qingdao.

GAEBLER is an experienced Olympian, with five appearances, highlighted by a bronze medal-winning performance in Sydney 2000. However, the German Tornado ticket for 2008 is still very much open. Whilst GAEBLER might have experience on his side (he was representing Germany in Korea whilst POLGAR was just starting his sailing career in Optimists), the form book currently points to POLGAR and SPALTEHOLZ, who hold an ISAF World Sailing Ranking of #4 compared to #12 for GAEBLER and STRUCKMANN.

Other big-name German entries in the Olympic Classes include Marc PICKEL and Ingo BORKOWSKI (GER) in Star, Kiel winners in 2003, and Marcus BAUR and Hannes BAUMANN (GER) in the 49er.

All Kiel Week Races 2007 will have the support of the following presenter and partners: BMW AG, HSH Nordbank, freente and boot Duesseldorf, b+m Informatic AG, B + S Card Service, Canon, Fuerst Bismarck, Quelle, Helly Hansen, Hugo Hamann, International Farbenwerke, Jever, Kapsch, CarrierCom, Kielnet, Lankhorst/Hohorst, Nexus, SVG Service Verlag/Segler-Zeitung, Tutima.

For all the news on Kiel Week CLICK HERE.

Kiel Week will be included in the first running of the ISAF World Cup© series for the Olympic Classes. For more on the ISAF World Cup© CLICK HERE.