Olympic sailing: Four German 49er crews in the medal race off Miami!

This can be described as a minor sailing sensation: At the World Cup season opener off Miami, four (!) German 49er teams qualified for the medal race. First and foremost the Rio bronze medallists Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel, who were able to defend their lead over the Brits Dylan Fletcher-Scott and Stuart Bithell on the final day with 21st place and another day's victory like champions. So well, in fact, that the Berlin team entered the double scored final with an 11.7 point lead and silver in the bag. The experienced crew from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein is now five "final places" ahead of the British.

In addition to Heil/Plößel, three other German teams will start the final: Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger from the Bayerischer Yacht-Club are in fifth place after ten races, as are the reinvigorated Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf from Kiel in seventh place and their team-mates Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme from the Kieler Yacht-Club, who are equal on points. So there will be plenty of black and red gold for the international competitors to see on Saturday evening. The final of the Hempel World Cup Series Miami 2019 will start at 18:52 German time. here broadcast live. Erik Heil said before the final: "We took a bit of a battering in the first race of the day today, then in the second we really realised that the right side was pulling in the dying thermals. We got through quite well today. Or rather: we got off lucky." This is the interim assessment of a helmsman with ten years of 49er experience, who knows what can happen in the very complicated light and shifty wind conditions this week. "It will probably come down to a match race," said Heil, hinting at the exciting final scenario.

In the 49erFX, on the other hand, the medal hopes of Berliners Vicky Jurczok and Anika Lorenz, who had performed so convincingly until then, were dashed on what was a completely black Friday for them. With another early start and 28th and 21st places, the crew from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club dropped - almost dramatically - from third to 18th place and had to pack it in, missing out on the medal race. The Nacra 17 medal race of the best ten mixed catamaran crews also took place without German participation. Johannes Polgar and Carolina Werner finished in 12th, 17th and 22nd place overall, just as Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer, who hit a reef on their race course the day before, were unable to qualify. The pair from Kiel finished the series in 16th place.

The final races in the disciplines that will not see their medal races until Sunday will be exciting once again. All eyes are currently on 23-year-old 470 helmswoman Fabienne Oster and her 26-year-old foresailor Anastasiya Winkel, who are surprisingly leading the women's 470 field. After just six races, the crew from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein in Hamburg have gained a six-point lead over Brazilians Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Luiza Barbachan. Their team-mates Frederike Loewe and Anna Markfort from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club are in fifth place in the battle for the women's 470 medals, thus also maintaining their chances of precious metal. In the Finn, Max Kohlhoff from Kiel kept his chances of reaching the final in 15th place after seven races. Berlin Finn helmsman Phillip Kasüske is 14 points behind in 19th place and still has a mathematical chance of reaching the final.

World Championship bronze medallist and world number two Philipp Buhl, on the other hand, can only tick off this season opener in the best possible way after another botched day and hope for more luck on Saturday for a worthy finish. The 29-year-old found himself in 26th place on Friday evening after finishing 42nd and 33rd and said frankly: "Yes, it's difficult. In terms of results, that was probably my worst day of competition for years." The man from Sonthofen has already identified his atypical problems: "My morning analysis was pretty much right in the last two days, but the implementation was poor." And: "I didn't manage to get into a good position quickly from the start. It's simply an extremely tight class. But there's not much missing and then it's back on track." Despite his own defeat, Buhl was happy for Nik Aaron Willim, who secured his second win of the day on Friday. The series that the young Laser helmsman from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein is experiencing off Miami is probably unique in its extremity: 11, 11, 52 (early start), 1, 50, 40, 43, 52 (early start),1. So far, that is worth 43rd place in the classification. However, his two victories on the day should at least have signalled to the 22-year-old Willim what he could be capable of with more consistency.