In the "H-Boat" class, you will mainly find established sailors.
Finn Kenter makes the exception: the 20-year-old Seeshaupter and his crew are there.
Seeshaupt -
The name says it all: "Kia ora" is the name of Finn Kenter's boat, which in the language of the Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, means something like "Grüß Gott" or "Hello".
The fact that the skipper from the Seeshaupt yacht club simply said "Servus" with his parents' boat in the H-boat class caused quite a stir.
Because with his 20 Lenzen, Kenter is one of the younger specimens by far in a boat class that is mainly dominated by the more sedate gentlemen.
But Kenter and his crew are well received, after all in the scene you are aware that you need to refresh your blood.
“Everyone is happy that young people are coming to class,” says the helmsman thanks for the friendly welcome.
In the past year, the student demonstrated to those who had already arrived that he not only came to fill up the regatta lists, but also to get involved.
"I knew that it would be too difficult with competitive sports and studies," says Kenter.
In the end, the 20-year-old describes his decision to sail an H-boat as rather pragmatic.
Sailing: Finn Kenter's crew is ambitious and willing to learn
After his successful time in the Optimist and the 420, he switched to the Olympic 470.
His potential was and is great.
But how should he combine a successful campaign at Viersieben with his studies in aerospace engineering?
His down-to-earth decision gave the H-Boot class an ambitious and eager to learn crew, who were already busy drawing attention to themselves last summer.
She was sixth at the Robert Huber Cup in Tutzing and eighth at the International German Championship on the Baldeneysee at the gates of Essen.
In the current ranking, she holds 33rd place.
The closest neighbors are Christian “Kicker” Schäfer, Walter Pulz and Kay Niederfahrenhorst, all of them heavyweights in the industry.
Sailing: Finn Kenter's younger brother Lasse is also part of the crew
While his colleagues peppered their teams with experienced crews, Kenter chose an experimental solution that relies on juvenile dynamics.
The average age of the crew is just 20 years.
Philipp Frieß (20) and Merlin Gnutzmann (21) did not bring great merits on board.
But somehow Kenter was excellent at conveying what it was all about.
“They both understood quickly,” he stated.
The rest is done by Lasse Kenter (18), who is responsible for the trim.
"Lasse and I sailed a lot in terms of performance," says Finn Kenter, describing his younger brother as an important factor.
"We know what the other thinks and how he reacts." The older of the Kenter brothers, however, has the last word.
The team does not see itself at the goal yet.
"There are a lot of things that we can still learn," is Finn Kenter's assessment.
He still describes himself and his colleagues as apprentices.
Sailing: Finn Kenter and his crew receive support from their own club
There is no shortage of masters who willingly pass on their equipment or knowledge.
Club colleague Peter Zauner has already lent the crew a major case at a regatta and thus solved the problems the boys had with setting and recovering the sails.
Dirk Stadler even arranged to meet the team for a sailing course on Lake Garda last spring.
The corona pandemic only thwarted the current number one in the ranking and the other sea leaders.
Nevertheless, Kenter was impressed by the support: "It is incredibly helpful for us when the old hands go with us on Lake Garda," he said, delighted about the offer.
In view of the high number of infections with Covid-19 across Europe, it is still in the stars whether the training can be made up for this year.
If not, the hope of one or the other race on your own doorstep remains.
“It is of course a huge privilege for us to be able to sail a regatta on Lake Starnberg almost every weekend in the summer,” says Kenter, happy that there is no lack of quantitative and qualitative strong competition in the local area.
Even the top dogs won't mind if he says “kia ora” again with his boat.
