This was not at all how Philipp Buhl had imagined his final day at the Laser World Championship in the Japanese sailing area of Sakaiminato: Of all things, a false start in the eleventh of twelve races threw the helmsman from Segelclub Alpsee Immenstadt off the medal course and back to ninth place in the final classification. When you hear the story, you realise how painful the course of the race and the end of this eleventh race really were for the man from the Allgäu and also for his 22-year-old team-mate Nik Aron Willim from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein:
The two Germans crossed the start line on the far right and in brilliant style. As the race progressed, they were able to assert themselves better and better. At the top of the windward leg before the final section of the course, they were already in second and fifth place. They turned this into first and second place in the double pass at the finish - a German double victory on the all-important final day. Or so they thought. "We were really happy for five seconds," says Philipp Buhl. Then it became clear that both had been disqualified. Although Buhl knows that the subjunctive counts for little in sport, he later realised when doing the maths that first and second place in this eleventh race would have meant at least bronze for him and a strong 14th place for Willim. Would have.
Buhl and Willim finished the world championships in ninth and 28th place - still a good result based on some strong performances by both German Laser athletes. After reviewing four videos and the audio recording of the starting boat, Buhl was less concerned with his own disqualification, which he classified as "too acceptable" at just half a metre over the line. The disqualification of Willim, for whom it was "a maximum of ten centimetres", was regrettable. Others who crossed the start line before Willim were not disqualified. And if you know that a laser makes about two metres per second at the start, then it is also clear how brutal a disqualification for a few centimetres at the start is. However, the Germans' request for compensation in the Willim case was rejected. "I'll still remember this race as the best we've ever sailed together," said Buhl, who paid tribute to Willim. "I'm happy for Nik, because he sailed a strong World Championship."
The 2020 Olympic hopeful's own World Championship balance sheet was mixed after this rollercoaster ride of emotions: "A lot of things went well, and it's also a good feeling that I sailed at the front of the field with a chance of winning a medal and even a title. But of course I'm annoyed about my narrow early start, the medal was in the bag. And that hurts a lot now - and it will continue to do so for quite a while! It's different at world championships than at other regattas: It doesn't count in the end whether you did well in between. What counts is the bare result. I had hoped for something different." National coach Alexander Schlonski also experienced the final day as "bitter", but sees his top athlete on the right track: "We still have some detailed work ahead of us, but of course he will be one of the medal candidates in Japan in 2020." Among Buhl's weaknesses at this World Championships, Schlonski counts the starts, which the helmsman himself had already criticised before the unfortunate eleventh World Championship race. But Schlonski's good news is: "Philipp has recovered after a difficult start to the season. Everything is back within striking distance for him."
Australian Olympic champion Tom Burton secured the world title in Miho Bay, Japan, around 700 kilometres away from the Olympic area, ahead of his compatriot Matthew Wearn and New Zealander George Gautrey. The breadth of the world's elite in the Laser is demonstrated by the placings of a number of other outstanding Laser athletes: double Olympic champion Robert Scheidt finished the world championships in twelfth place. Double world champion Pavlos Kontides from Cyprus sailed to 18th place, and Buhl's training partner Hermann Tomasgaard, who had attracted attention at the start of the season with a series of victories, struggled to 42nd place in the final classification. Olympic bronze medallist Sam Meech from New Zealand took fourth place with a win on the last day ahead of the British double world champion Nick Thompson.
Here to see the results.
