Olympic sailing: Skiff crew Lutz/Beucke dominate Attersee European Championships at half-time

Three victories and exclusively top five results in the first six qualifying races of the European Championship on Lake Attersee say a lot about the performance of Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke: Following their Kieler Woche victory and the Olympic ticket they secured there, the duo continue to sail in impressive form and lead the strong international field of 40 teams from 17 nations with just six points on their European Championship account. However, the two 29-year-old skiff sailors do not want to talk about a "broken knot". However, Susann Beucke admits with a smile: "It would also be a lie if we didn't say that we are a bit more confident after Kiel." However, the long-term plan is decisive for the conspicuous and consistently outstanding performances. "That has now paid off. We are now reaping the rewards," explains the foresailor from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein.

The 49er virtuosos Klaus Lange and Ian Barker played important roles in the realisation of this plan. The two skiff experts were the favoured candidates of the Bavarian-North German duo. "Klaus Lange worked with us a lot on our technique," says Tina Lutz from the Chiemsee Yacht Club. With current coach Ian Barker, the duo managed to make significant progress in terms of boat speed, among other things. Tina Lutz and Sausann Beucke stood out at the few regattas this season with their outstanding speed. "Ian is very experienced and meticulous. He has made us deal with the topic of speed in a more professional way," says Susann Beucke. Together with Barker, Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke form a trio that they describe as a "small sailing family, just like when we were young with Zizi Staniul". You can clearly hear how comfortable the most successful 49erFX sailors on the German Sailing Team feel this year in this actively self-created constellation.

The duo is enjoying sailing at the current European Championships. Set in an idyllic landscape in the Upper Austrian Salzkammergut region, Lake Attersee offers the European Championship participants in the three Olympic speed disciplines 49erFX, 49er and Nacra 17 an almost paradisiacal stage. After pre-corona tests for everyone, the 250 sailors feel at home in the European Championship area. So far, the European Championship participants have not experienced any complicated inland sea conditions, but have had two good winds and one completely calm day. Stronger winds are expected for the coming days. "But you always have to be prepared for anything here," says Beucke, "the crazy lake conditions are sure to come."

At the halfway point of the European Championships on Friday morning before the start of the final round, it was not only Lutz/Beucke who put the German camp in a good mood with their top position. With the two 19-year-old FX sailors Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille, a young team from Mühlenberger Segel-Club had achieved a remarkable tenth place after six races. It is worth taking a closer look at the corresponding excerpt from the results list, because behind the two women from Hamburg at the time were the reigning Danish world championship bronze medallist Ida Maria Baad Nielsen with Marie Thusgaard Olsen (11th), the Spanish world champion, circumnavigator and Olympic match race winner Támara Echegoyen with Paula Barceló (12th) and the Dutch double sculls Támara Echegoyen with Paula Barceló (12th).) and the Dutch double world champions Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (13th) - a memorable interim result that should not only give the two sailors from the German Sailing Team's junior squad a lot of pleasure and motivation, but also coach Patrick Böhmer and many MSC fans.

In the Olympic 49er sailors, in the absence of World Championship bronze medallists Erik Heil/Thomas Plößel, their team-mates Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf remained close to the medal places in fourth place after six races. In the Nacra 17, Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer struggled to reach the top ten in 15th place. The European Championship ends on Sunday with the medal decisions in all three classes.

Here to see the intermediate results.