German Sailing Team starts season opener off Palma: German aces stand out, new boards broaden the horizon

The season-opening classic Trofeo Princesa Sofía got off to a good start for Germany's established sailing aces: Laser world champion Philipp Buhl remains a bank in the post-Olympic year and showed on the first two days of the popular regatta for Olympic classes with his series 1, 2, 7, 2 that he will once again be a force to be reckoned with on course for the 2024 Olympics. The 32-year-old from the Allgäu was able to score points in the initially rather uncomfortable, strong winds and grey Mallorca conditions on the outside course and take his first win of the day. With this performance, Buhl was initially equal on points with his new French training partner Jean-Baptiste Bernaz in fourth place. In the first four races, Buhl immediately enjoyed the season. The power play in the "really cool waves" and strong winds suits the helmsman from Segelclub Allgäu-Immenstadt, who also competes for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein. "It was very cold, very exhausting, but in the end it's the result that counts, and it's fun too," said Buhl on his successful start. Ilca 7 Olympic champion Matt Wearn, on the other hand, did not get off to a good start and had to settle for 32nd place after the first four heats in the largest Palma field of 163(!) starters. In the female equivalent Ilca 6, Hannah Anderssohn from Warnemünde Sailing Club was the best member of the German Sailing Team in eleventh place after four races.

Like Buhl, the bronze medallists from the Olympic Games in Japan also made a convincing start to the Spanish series: Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer from the Kieler Yacht-Club were fourth in the foiling mixed catamaran Nacra 17 after their first day of racing in the bay of Palma. Two Italian crews, Ruggero Tita/Caterina Banti and Gianluca Ugolini/Maria Giubilei, have once again taken the lead. Santiago Lange, now a proud 60-year-old Argentinian and 2012 Nacra 17 Olympic champion, has brought a new sailing partner on board in Victoria Travascio and wants to give it another go with a view to the 2024 Olympics. The South American duo opened the Trofeo in 13th place after three races.

The start of the regatta in the new Olympic 470 mixed discipline was eagerly awaited. The top favourites lived up to expectations: Spanish high-flyers Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugmann were in second place after four races behind the Italians Giacomo Ferrari/Bianca Caruso and ahead of the Australians Nina Jaerwood/Conor Nicholas. Luise Wanser/Philipp Autenrieth (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Bayerischer Yacht-Club) followed in fourth place as the best 470 mixed crew of the German Sailing Team. Four points behind them, Theres Dahnke/Matti Cipra (Plauer Wassersport-Verein) in sixth place created a good starting point for further attacks. Malte and Anastasiya Winkel also made a good start to the season in tenth place overall (click here for all results and intermediate results). And here it goes in retrospect to the Summary of day one (please click!).

"I've been told how prestigious this regatta is"

The fact that Florian Gruber (NRV) and Yannis Maus (Cuxkiters) were keen to take part in the new Olympic discipline iQFoil in Palma had Gruber already in a video insured (please click!). On the course, they initially came up trumps in fifth and ninth after four races. On Tuesday, Leonie Meyer (NRV) finished seventh overall in the women's kiteboarding event, a strong first day in the struggle to catch up with the world's best as quickly as possible after the birth of her son and the successful completion of her studies last year.

Germany's best iQFoiler Sebastian Kördel (NRV) is also in the top ten. In ninth place, after a mixed start with three second places off Palma de Mallorca, he quickly found his feet and improved significantly. The 31-year-old started the Spanish regatta for the first time on Tuesday after intensive winter training. "I don't know the area and the regatta yet," said Kördel beforehand, "but I've been told how prestigious it is. I always go into the race with the aim of winning. But it's also clear that the air is thin at the top level."

RS:X Olympic champion Kiran Badloe: "It's a new start, like a new sport"

The entry lists show just how popular the Spanish showdown is with the world's best windsurfers on foils. For example, Dutch RS:X Olympic champion Kiran Badloe, who has increased his weight from 73 to around 90 kilograms to suit the new discipline, will be competing in the iQFoil. For the 1.95 metre tall, formerly very slim athlete, this was a rather pleasant task after years of demanding weight control. "It's a new start, like a new sport," explains Badloe, who will be competing for more medals on foils in future. His observation: "iQFoiling is great because it brings the whole windsurfing community together. There are people from the PWA, people from slalom and freestyle. And then there are those who have already surfed the Olympics before. Just like me." The 101 iQFoil men include two Germans, Kördel and Fabian Wolf from Kiel, under the direction of coach Dom Tidey. Lena Erdil, Helena Wanser, Theresa Marie Steinlein (all three NRV) and Alisa Engelheim (WYC) are the iQFoil women.

Meggendorfer/Spranger catapult themselves into second place at the season opener

And then there are the skiffs in the traditionally strong German sailing disciplines 49er and 49erFX. While Olympic bronze medallist helmsman Erik Heil is still taking a break to study medicine and work on the farm he and his girlfriend Louisa have just bought in Strande, his co-skipper Thomas Plößel is taking the opportunity to compete in the Trofeo with Fabian Rieger for training purposes. The 49er World Championship bronze medallists from 2018, Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf, will be joining Erik Heil later in the season for professional reasons. However, the lack of top players will not cause a lull at the top in view of the high level of performance in the German Sailing Team: Jakob Meggendorfer/Andreas Spranger (Bayerischer Yacht-Club) catapulted themselves into second place in the first three races with a fourth place and two daily victories and right into the middle of the world elite. Other young guns from the German Sailing Team are rehearsing in Spain for their rise in the men's skiff. In the women's 49erFX, Sophie Steinlein (NRV) and the experienced Swede Marie Thusgaard Olson made a strong impression in sixth place in the intermediate classification at the start. They were followed by Marla Bergmann/Hanna Wille (Mühlenberger Segel-Club) and Maru Scheel/Catherine Sophie Bartelheimer (Kieler Yacht-Club) in eighth and ninth place after three races.