Germany's best Olympic sailors performed furiously at the start of the World Championship Festival in Phillip Bay, Australia, taking a total of three victories in the 49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17 and Laser disciplines. In the 49erFX, Tina Lutz (Holzhausen) and substitute headsailor Lotta Wiemers from Kiel impressed: the duo lead the standings with confidence after winning the opening race and taking two second places. "A few weeks ago, I thought I wouldn't be able to start here at all. It was a victory for us that we made it to the start line at all," said Tina Lutz (Chiemsee Yacht Club), "it was a very good start today. We had good starts and good speed, the communication on board worked really well. That's good for the head, of course." Vicky Jurczok and Anika Lorenz also impressed with a race win. The Berliners from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club were in fourth place after the first three qualifying races. For the German skiff sailors, the World Championships marks part two of the three-part national Olympic qualifiers, as it does for the 49er teams.
In the men's 49er, the Berlin runners-up Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein were the best German team at the start, finishing eighth, third and sixth. However, they were hospitalised after the races. Foreskipper Thomas Plößel suffered a cut to his leg in a crash in the first race and the subsequent capsize, but was able to compete in all three races. Plößel was treated in hospital in the evening Australian time. However, Erik Heil reported: "Everything is okay."
For their team-mates, however, day one of the World Championships went less well: Jakob Meggendorfer/Andreas Spranger (Bayerischer Yacht-Club) were able to shine with a second place in their qualification group, but then slipped back to 25th place. Justus Schmidt/Max Boehme (Kieler Yacht-Club), Tim Fischer/Fabian Graf (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) and Nils Carstensen/Jan Frigge (Flensburger Segel-Club) will have to start their race to catch up on day two of the World Championship from 43rd, 46th and 47th place. The 49er lead was taken by the 2019 World Championship bronze medallists Dylan Fletcher-Scott and Stuart Bithell from Great Britain, followed by the Austrians Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl, who finished second, first and second. New Zealand's defending champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke were initially in third place after two wins on the day and a fifth place.
The host team was the quickest to publish its video summary of the day. They give a good impression of the requirements at the start
In the Nacra 17, Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer achieved a good opening performance with an upward trend. Ranks 19, 10 and 4 brought them eighth place in the intermediate classification. Paul Kohlhoff said: "That was a reasonable start in three to ten knots of wind. We had to deal with huge gybes and a lot of seaweed. The conditions could hardly have been more unpleasant. We got away okay and within reach. We'll continue consistently tomorrow."
PHILIPP BUHL OPENS LASER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STRONG
On the other side of Phillip Bay, Philipp Buhl has impressively heralded his World Championship summit with a fourth place and a win on the day. The 30-year-old Laser helmsman from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein was clearly delighted with his successful start after a mixed pre-Olympic season in 2019. "That was really nice, I needed that again. It was fun," said the Allgäu native, who was able to recharge his batteries on Tuesday. He managed two excellent starts. With good speed, he was then also able to prevail on the course. "A bit of nous was needed today. I also needed a bit of patience and a bit of luck in the right places," said Buhl, summarising his performance. In the second race, "full throttle hanging conditions" prevailed at times. Throughout the day, the laser sailors had to deal with winds of between ten and 15 knots, i.e. medium strength.
The four World Championship series will continue on Wednesday and end for the skiff sailors and mixed catamaran crews in Geelong on 15 February, for the Laser aces one day later.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
