Audi 2011 Annual Report Download - page 44

Audi – a strong
commitment to sailing
The sponsor
The Audi Team entered the
Kieler Woche with a high-
tech TP52 yacht. This boat
with its carbon fi ber hull
was one of the fastest at the
“Kiel Cup Alpha” regatta
in 2011. TP52 sailboats are
among the most advanced
regatta yachts today with
a displacement of 7.3 metric
tons, of which 4.8 tons
alone are in the ballast bulb
on the keel.
AUDI AG has been com-
mitted to competitive sailing
for over ten years. Its focus
is increasingly on sailing
events in individual countries,
whether in boat partner-
ships, participation in tradi-
tional regatta festivals or
national regatta series. Since
summer 2010, the Company
has also been supporting
the German national sailing
team, which goes by the
name Audi Sailing Team
Germany. The next genera-
tion of yachtsmen and
women is also benefi ting
from the Company’s support.
As a partner of the world’s
largest regatta, the Kieler
Woche, the brand off ers
innovative experience pro-
grams for its customers,
dealers and employees.
Audi is also providing exciting
entertainment for numerous
sailing fans in its advanced
TV and Internet news
reporting on sailing, for
example using social media
and showing live broad-
casts on large viewing
screens at regatta locations.
Martin Voigt, a dentist from
Stralsund, will never forget this day.
“A unique and wonderful experience,”
he says. After the highly celebrated
victory of the Audi Team in the 2010
German Championship, Voigt is on the
team a second time, and he comments:
“The more I know, the more I realize
that I know nothing. At club regattas
back home we show the others what
it’s all about. Here it is we who are
learning.”
Voigt can’t help but notice the
uncompromising approach with which
the entire racing yacht and its equipment
are held accountable to the dictates
of minimum racing weight. Everything
aboard the Audi yacht is reduced to the
most essential. The keyword here is
“ultra,” and this concept could also be
seen in the 260 square meter gennaker,
a sail that drives the boat very eff ectively
because it captures the wind from
behind like a gigantic half balloon. Hull,
mast, steering wheels – all of the boat’s
structural components consist of carbon
fi ber, making it ultralight.
Holger Neu from Stralsund leans on
the rail, dripping wet, and takes a deep
breath. He is amazed at how well the
team works together after a few hours:
“We just got to know one another
yesterday,” he says. The results list that
is displayed at regatta headquarters in
the evening – right next to the results
of the Olympic sailors – confi rms the
team’s steeply rising performance curve.
Entered in the fourth column of the day
is a fi rst place for the Audi Team!
That is because the race director
took advantage of the favorable wind
conditions and sent the competitors out
for a fourth race in the evening. Such a
decision is rarely made. Usually there
are just two or at most three races.
Now the most experienced big boat
sailors also had to mobilize their last
reserves and go back out on the waters
of Stollergrund.
Kröger motivates his team to give its
all in one more race: “People, you can do
it!” And the team does it. The race victory
at the end of one of the longest and
toughest sailing days at the Kieler Woche
tastes better than any champagne.
In the fi nal tally – after a total of three
days and eight races – the Audi Team
and its grand prix racers earned a strong
sixth place in the prestigious Kiel Cup
Alpha regatta. The most important
result, however, is the uplifting feeling
of having grown together into a united
team. Skipper Kröger praises his guest
sailors at the end of the event: “Guys,
on the fi nal day we accomplished
maneuvers that we would never have
dared to try with this team on the fi rst
day. You earned this victory yourselves.”
Such praise from one of the most
experienced professional sailors in the
world – what else could one wish for?
Everyone beams with delight.
Waves, wind and competition: Audi
at the world’s biggest competitive
sailing event.
Carbon fi ber mast
(about 30 m)
Foresail
(approx. 65 sq.m)
Carbon fi ber hull (15.85 m overall length; 4.42 m beam)
Class designation TP52
(Transpac 52)
Mainsail
(approx. 94 sq.m)
A race victory
tastes better than
any champagne.
PHOTOS | RICHARD WALCH/AUDI AG GRAPHIC | AUDI AG
Experience _ 41