Finn European Championship: German Finn sailors miss out on Olympic chance

The Finn dinghy was once one of Germany's favourite disciplines. Willy Kuhweide became famous with the gold medal he won in 1964, and Jochen Schümann laid the foundations for his rise to become the most successful German sailor in sporting history with his Finn Olympic victory in 1976. But those days are over. For several decades now, German Finn athletes have repeatedly endeavoured to gain a place among the world's best with respectable successes, but their efforts are rarely rewarded at the Olympics.

The two top athletes in the German Sailing Team also failed to make a breakthrough at the European Finn Sailing Championships in Athens. Max Kohlhoff and Phillip Kasüske once again came away empty-handed in the battle for one of the other four advertised national starting places for the 2020 Olympic Finn regatta, as they did in the first round at the World Championships in Aarhus last year. Neither of them coped well in the Greek waters and finished the continental championships in 29th and 30th place. 26-year-old helmsman Max Kohlhoff from Kiel was able to end the series on a positive note with a tenth place on Saturday, but he lacked consistency during the series, as did his 24-year-old team-mate Kasüske. Both conceded too many high scores.

However, the German Finn coxswains still have a minimal chance, as there will be one last Olympic Nations starting place for European teams at the World Cup regatta in Genoa in the 2020 Olympic year. However, the problem is that the Germans will still have tough competition even then, as other strong Finn nations have not yet qualified. If you realise that the Olympic field in Enoshima only offers space for 19 Finn starters - spread across all continents - then it is clear how difficult this summit assault will be. Max Kohlhoff said at the European Championships in Athens: "We knew that it would be very, very hard to get one of these four places. The chance was there, but unfortunately it didn't work out. But we will fight to the end."

The winner of the open European Finn Sailing Championship in Athens was the British Olympic champion Giles Scott (48 points) ahead of New Zealander Andy Maloney (52 points), who won the medal race, and Zsombor Berecz (61 points) from Hungary. The next four Olympic nation places after the first round in Aarhus 2018 were initially secured in Athens by Brazil, Norway, Switzerland and the USA according to their results. However, there were still protests in the evening, the outcome of which could influence the composition of the lucky quartet of nations.

Here to see the results of the Finn Dinghy European Championship.