Olympic sailing: Skiff sailors impress with World Cup bronze in the Olympic area

The skiff sailors Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf have achieved the best German result at the Sailing World Cup in the Olympic area of Enoshima with third place. The 49er helmsman from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein in Hamburg and his Berlin coxswain from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club started the final on Saturday in the lead, but capsized and only finished tenth and last. James Peters and Fynn Sterritt from Great Britain sailed to overall victory in the 49er ahead of the Austrians Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl.

The German duo capsized while setting the gennaker. The mishap in one of the fierce gusts of well over 20 knots of wind and high waves did not detract from the overall outstanding performance of Fischer and Graf, who had already impressed with bronze at the 2018 World Championships in the Danish waters of Aarhus. "We showed that we are medal contenders when we are sent to the Games. The conditions suit us very well. The waves are technically demanding. In light winds we are the best. In strong winds, we can 'surprisingly' be among the leaders despite our little experience," said Fischer, whose team is one of the figureheads in Germany's flagship discipline, the 49er.

Fischer/Graf, like the Rio bronze medallists Erik Heil/Thomas Plößel from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and Kiel's Justus Schmidt/Max Boehme, who are still taking a break due to their studies, are among the strongest German 49er crews, but only one of them can secure an Olympic ticket. Schmidt/Boehme had previously sailed to fifth place at the Olympic test regatta, but had to settle for 20th place at the World Cup regatta. The national elimination in the battle for the Enoshima ticket for the skiff sailors begins with the 49er World Championship in the first week of December in Auckland, continues in February at the 2020 World Championship in Geelong, Australia, and ends in early May with the classic regatta Trofeo Princesa Sofía off Mallorca.

Philipp Buhl was not satisfied with his 14th place at this World Cup event in Enoshima. The man from Sonthofen had previously proved once again that he is one of the world's best with seventh place in the Olympic test regatta in the same area, but he wants more. The medal race of the laser sailors will take place on Sunday without the Allgäuer. National coach Alex Schlonski said in Japan: "Philipp's starts were much better than recently. Nevertheless, he was penalised several times for choosing a side. There was a lot of bad luck involved, but perhaps also a bit too much risk for the given conditions. We will now analyse that thoroughly. There were also small individual mistakes, which always cost us a few places. We are obviously not satisfied with the overall result, but in the end we came out of the event on a positive note."

In the Nacra 17, Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer finished the World Cup in third place in the final in eighth place overall. The mixed catamaran duo from the Kieler Yacht-Club had lost out on an even better placing with a capsize on Thursday. "We can win medals if we don't just sail okay, but deliver a good performance. The overall package is not quite right yet. So we are continuing to work hard towards our goal of finishing every regatta in the top eight this year."

The 470 women's and men's medal races will take place on Sunday with German participation. Simon Diesch and Philipp Autenrieht are in sixth place after ten races, but despite strong performances they are mathematically unable to reach the podium. Frederike Loewe and Anna Markfort, who also finished sixth in the medal race, maintained the theoretical possibility of a top-three result. Laser Radial helmswoman Svenja Weger finished the World Cup regatta in the upcoming Olympic venue in 16th place.

Here to see the final results and the intermediate results in the disciplines that do not finish their World Cup regatta until Sunday.