The German 49er sailors were once again the most successful players at international title competitions. Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel as well as Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme once again proved their class at the world championships in the former Olympic area off Weymouth. Although it was not enough for a podium place and medals in the light windy final sprint, neither the athletes nor their national coach Marc Pickel were unhappy due to the continuing lack of training. "The result is okay," said Erik Heil, "we had set ourselves the goal of a top ten finish under the given conditions. In that respect, it went well. To expect more in our situation would almost be arrogant. We were able to make up a lot of ground in some races, but on some days we were probably one of the most exhausted teams."
Schmidt/Boehme would certainly have liked to have won a medal after their strong start to the European Championships, but they did not cope well enough with the poor conditions towards the end of the series. And Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel, who have hardly been training due to their study commitments, also realised that although they can sometimes work their magic again, they still lack fitness on long race days. This was evidenced by three capsizes at this European Championship. However, their five race victories in 20 races also proved that the Rio bronze medallists have forgotten little of their art and will be a force to be reckoned with once they have fully returned to racing in the second Olympic campaign in September.
The German skiff sailors, including World Championship bronze medallists Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf, who finished 16th in England but were able to shine once again with two second places in the last two races, are certainly among the hopes of German sailing on course for the 2020 Olympics. The open European Championship was won by the New Zealand Olympic champions and America's Cup winners Peter Burling and Blair Tuke without the final, which was cancelled in light winds. The new European champions are Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell from Great Britain.
DSV Sports Director Nadine Stegenwalner, who will also be called upon this weekend as Vice-President of the World Sailing Federation at the half-year meeting at Chelsea Football Club in London, said: "The 49er group in the German Sailing Team continues to make a very strong impression and is doing an excellent job with its coaches Marc Pickel and Max Groy. The team is convincingly on course for Enoshima 2020."
Tina Lutz (Chiemsee Yacht Club) and Susann Beucke (Hannoverscher Yacht-Club) narrowly missed out on the medal race for the best ten crews in twelfth place at the parallel European Championships for the Olympic 49erFX sailors. Vicky Jurczok and Anika Lorenz (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) did not find their wave of success in 18th place in England. The series was won by Brazilians Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze. The new European 49erFX champions are Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz from the Netherlands.
Paul Kohlhoff/Alica Stuhlemmer (Kieler Yacht-Club) were not far short of reaching the final of the top ten crews at the European Championships in the Olympic mixed catamaran class Nacra 17. However, the North German duo did not quite fulfil their own expectations. Paul Kohlhoff said: "We really didn't feel quite as strong here at the European Championships as we did in Palma. After the crash there, we are currently travelling with slightly different equipment. That didn't help. And then we also made a few mistakes, which you simply can't afford to make where we want to be. Our aim is to be better than we were here. But we are happy that we met the criteria to compete in the Pre-Olympics this year." The European champions in the Nacra 17 were Ben Saxton and Nicola Boniface from Great Britain in a more than borderline final in a balmy three or four knots of wind. The multiple Italian world champions Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti, who had been in the lead until then, were among the "victims" of the doldrums poker on Sunday evening and fell back to fourth place in the unsightly sail creep over the final course.
Here to see the results.
