Star Class Honoring the Past, Leading the Future
Much effort has been put by the Star Class and its most loyal members into helping younger sailors to join. In different countries different realities are in place, like the successful Future Stars in Austria, and the creation of the Under 30 Star Worlds and Continental Championships. During the actual Star Worlds, there have plenty of projects, for instance for the upcoming 2022 Star World Championship the U30 will pay a reduced entry fee, and last year in Kiel, Germany, the local group of passionate Star sailors helped the youngsters find boats for their use at the regatta.
One of the youngest in the fleet is Jolanda-Lene Engel, a 22 year-old living close to Kiel, sailing with her husband Christopher as crew.
“I'm from Flensburg and I am here sailing at the 2021 Star World Championship with my husband and I'm the skipper. It all started as I’ve just asked Arnd (Glunde) if I could sail at the Star Worlds and here I am. I come from the 420 and after that I ended up in the Star and I’ve fallen in love with it.”
Jolanda is not only young and a woman, she is also thin and gentle and if you look in the parking lot, most Star sailors are twice her size, so you’d wonder if it isn’t too much for her.
“I love sailing the Star, it is a little physical for me, of course, but my husband helps me so much, like I cannot pull the mainsheet, so he does it. What I do on the boat is mostly everything tactical and the steering, he does the physical part, so we are a perfect team!”
Arnd Glunde, also from Flensburg, is a Star Class Life Member, and he is on the U30 Development Committee. He was key to making the 2021 Star Worlds in Kiel a success also by helping the attendance of younger sailors new to the Class.
“The idea of attending the World Championship came up because we live very close to Kiel. And Arnd said we could use one of his boats, so I'm here, and it's a big event and I am super happy.”
Jolanda-Lene and her husband Christopher finished 26th and hopefully we'll get to see her back in the in the fleet in the future.
The Star genes run in their families, Jan Borbet and Jesper Spher (GER) were the top U30 team at the Worlds in Kiel.
Jesper: “We have been sailing as a team in the Star Class for a year now, and we are glad with finishing 12th. I have sailed the Star with my father for about eight years and now I am here with a U30 skipper. The first time we sailed together was at the end of 2019, then 2020 was different for everyone and we tuned up this year, we have been to the European Championship in Split.”
Jan: “I started like everyone in the optimist, then move straight to the Star Class. I think we feel really good, it's a really nice class, it's competitive sailing it's really important point also the Star Class is like a family and we are proud to be part of it."
Coming from the other side of the World is Australian skipper Jake Lilley, a Finn Olympian in his late twenties, who got hooked after attending the then-called Junior Worlds in Miami in February of 2019.
“I was really inspired by that event and ended up buying a couple of Stars to get into it. That event was actually won by Alexey, my crew here in Kiel, with another skipper. So that Championship actually made me decide to go campaign the Star. You always have this appreciation for the Class, and when you try it you realize how fun it is, and it was a very enjoyable regatta to take part in. At the end of that I just wanted more of it, that is why I am here in Kiel. The Star is very tactical, there are good friends, the level is really high quality and you can't find better racing in the World."
Lilley has been to two Olympic Games in the Finn Class. “I started sailing pretty late, like I didn't really do any junior sailing except some Laser Radial for a year, then I was pretty quick in the Europe Class, and I took part in one America’s Cup as well along the way.”
