Olympic sailing: Kohlhoff/Stuhlemmer shock the competition with two day wins

Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer have opened the 50th anniversary edition of the Spanish classic Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofía with two day wins and a third place. The crew from the Kieler Yacht-Club thus surprisingly lead the Nacra 17 classification after the first day ahead of the New Zealanders Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders and the Italian world champions Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti.

With the exception of the missing America's Cup star Nathan Outteridge and his sister Haylee Outteridge, the Nacra 17 field is ready for the World Championship. The dominant gala performance of the 23-year-old German helmsman and his 20-year-old fore-sailor also caused a stir in the harbour after the races, with many congratulations and plenty of amazement. But Paul Kohlhoff calmed the wave of euphoria: "There's nothing to celebrate yet. This was only the first day of a long series." The mixed catamaran helmsman matter-of-factly explains his team's performance with training intensity and focus: "We trained well and a lot. I didn't go home at all between the training camps in the spring, and Alica was only away once. We tested and prepared our equipment very thoroughly, because this is an important event for us."

Kohlhoff/Stuhlemmer also earned their impressive start with successful starts. "In the last race, we were ahead of everyone on starboard," reported the 2016 Olympic 13th-placer - another expression of the crew's renewed sporting confidence after a long break due to Kohlhoff's serious illness at the beginning of last year. "We're on the right track," says Kohlhoff. "We've learnt again that we can also win. And we feel in top shape." The duo coped so well in very different conditions on Monday: in the first of the day's three races, the wind was still onshore at five to seven knots. In the next two races, offshore winds of eight to 14 knots dominated. Their team-mates Johannes Polgar and Carolina Werner were initially in 32nd place after three races, having slipped down the rankings after finishing 6th and 20th.

In the other disciplines with German participation, not all races had been included in the results lists by 7 pm. Initially, very light winds and postponed starts had caused delays. Svenja Weger from the Potsdam Yacht Club made a remarkably strong start to the regatta. The Laser Radial helmswoman, whose team mate Philipp Buhl had already predicted a good regatta at the weekend ("Anything else would surprise me given her level of performance"), successfully kicked off the regatta with a third and an eighth place in fifth overall. The 49erFX sailors Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke got off to a good start for the coming days with 15th, 6th and 3rd place and seventh place in the intermediate classification. Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz will start in 19th place on Tuesday, as they had deprived themselves of a better start with an early start. In the Finn, Phillip Kasüske in 3rd and 9th place and Max Kohlhoff in 4th and 10th place were initially almost in a tie for seventh and 13th place. None of the German 470 sailors were initially able to place in the top ten. The 49er sailors were not in action on 1 April. And that's no joke.

The results are constantly updated until late in the evening and are here to read.