Sailing Coach Christian Rasmussen

Coaching – Heinz Nixdorf Verein Starboat Training Camp, Kiel 🇩🇪⛵

Three very productive days of Starboat training in Kiel together with the Heinz Nixdorf Verein team.

We focused on boat speed, sail trim and tuning in a wide range of conditions as preparation for the European Championship in Medemblik in August and the World Championship in Miami this November.

Beautiful weather, strong breeze Friday and Saturday, and lighter conditions Sunday — perfect training conditions.

Kiel was full of activity with an impressive number of dinghies and keelboats on the water throughout the weekend.

Great to work together with Arnd Glunde, Alexander Ehrensberger, Burkhard Keese, German Champion 2024 Jesper Speer, Lars van Stekelenburg, Marcel Vockel, Tim Rijfers and former Star World Champion 2024 Max Kohlhoff.

Lars van Stekelenburg, owner of Hagoort Sails — one of the largest sailmakers in the Netherlands — had developed and delivered new Star sails for his team. The sails showed very promising speed and looked good overall, and Lars is now working on a new version with a few smaller modifications based on the testing in Kiel.

All in all, a great start to the season and the road towards Medemblik and Miami.

Strong World Championship performance – Heinz Nixdorf U30 Star Team

A strong memory from my recent coaching work over the past 2.5 years within the Heinz Nixdorf Verein (HNV) Starboat sailing program in Eckernförde, Germany.

At the 2025 Star Class World Championship in Split, Croatia, with 110 competing boats, the German U30 team Nick Heuwinkel / Jesper Spehr, whom I worked with as coach, achieved an excellent 6th place overall, having led the World Championship after the first four races – a strong performance at the highest international level against the world’s best Star sailors.

The team also won the German National Championship in 2024, underlining their strong development and consistency.

Other young teams in the group, including Anton Nikolai Loeck / Christopher Wenzke, also showed strong performances at the World Championship in Split, reflecting the overall high level and positive development within the group.

The program and training camps are organized by Arnd Glunde, with strong support from Joachim Hellmich, who has been instrumental in building the HNV sailing program.

We are typically a group of 3–4 young Star teams, training together with experienced Masters teams and strong international sailors from across Europe – creating a highly competitive and inspiring training environment.

The program continues with preparations for the 2026 Star Class World Championship in Miami.

Proud to be part of high-performance international sailing

Official race report – leading after four races:

2025 Star World Championship – Cayard and Kleen take Day 4 back-to-back wins Nick Heuwinkel and Jesper Spehr of Germany are the new overall leaders after four races completed at the Star World Championships

A proud memory from my time as Head Coach for the Greek Sailing Team, employed by the Hellenic Olympic Committee and the Hellenic Sailing Federation. I had the great honour to meet sailing legend John Bertrand (USA) when he was coaching Greek Olympian Kameron Maramenidis in Formula Kite Men.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was one of the most famous sailors in the world, winning the Laser World Championship twice, the Finn Gold Cup, and later an Olympic silver medal.

As a young Optimist sailor, I clearly remember reading articles about John Bertrand and how he even used ballet training to improve flexibility, balance and performance. At the time, that seemed both unusual and impressive.

John was also known for bringing physical preparation to a new level in single-handed dinghy sailing, following pioneers such as four-time Olympic gold medalist Paul Elvstrøm and Olympic bronze medalist and Finn Gold Cup winner Henning Wind. He was stronger and fitter than many of his rivals.

A proud memory from my international coaching career.

Photo: From left to right– Greek Olympian Kameron Maramenidis, Dimitri Maramenides, Christian Rasmussen, and John Bertrand (far right).

Swedish Champions 2024 – Coaching Tom Löfstedt and Johan Tillander during the Swedish Star Class Championship in Stockholm.

Our cooperation continues this season towards the 2026 Star World Championship in Miami.

Great memories from working with an outstanding team showing great team spirit, dedication and consistency throughout the campaign.

Earlier training periods also included sessions alongside Pied Piper Star Team Jack Jennings / Pedro Trouche, North American Champions and European Champions.

Great memories from working with the San Francisco Knarr Team Randy Hecht / former US Olympian Russ Silvestri ahead of and during the International Knarr Championship in Rungsted.

I joined as co-tactician during the qualification regatta with Randy Hecht, Russ Silvestri, and the rest of the team. The team came out on top in the qualification regatta, and I later continued as coach during the International Knarr Championship.