After their lightning start on Monday, Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer also put in a strong performance on the second day of the Spanish classic Trofeo Pricesa Sofía Iberostar off Palma de Mallorca. The mixed catamaran crew from the Kieler Yacht-Club are in third place after a total of six races, just two points behind the Italian world champions Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti. With this place, the crew from the Kieler Yacht-Club entered the main round of the 50th anniversary regatta. Their team-mates Johannes Polgar and Carolina Werner, on the other hand, missed out on a place in the gold fleet in 32nd place and will be sailing in the silver fleet from Wednesday.
"We didn't sail quite as cleanly today as we did yesterday," said Paul Kohlhoff, critically analysing his team's performance despite the good 3rd, 4th and 10th places. This was mainly due to the weaker starts compared to the previous day. On the plus side, Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer shone with their fighting spirit. "We got back into the race well a few times today. So it wasn't all bad," said Kohlhoff. The races were held in eight to ten knots of wind in slightly lighter conditions than at the start.
The German 49erFX crews are also doing well in Spanish waters: Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke are in fourth place after six races, just two points behind the leading New Zealanders Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech. In second place are Great Britain's Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey ahead of the Brazilian Olympic champions Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze. Berliners Vicky Jurczok and Anika Lorenz moved up to eighth place in the women's high performance dinghy after their early start the day before, improving significantly with 5th, 5th and 8th places. Foresailor Susann Beucke said: "Yes, things are going well for us here so far. We are working through our tasks without any frills. You know that it's always the left side in Palma. We've managed some good starts from the centre because we wanted to keep clear of the pack on the left. In the last race, we then ventured out to the left and sailed probably the best race ever, reaching the finish line with a 200 metre lead." This meant the first brilliant victory of the day for the FX sailors.
The young NRV sailors Gwendal Lamay and Luke Willim attracted attention in the 49er field with another win on the day, finishing in 32nd place after three races. The best German skiff team after the first day of racing for the 108 49er crews are Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme from Kiel in seventh place, just eight points behind the leading Australians Kurt Hansen and Simon Hoffmann. Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf are in 23rd place ahead of the second qualifying day for the high performance sailors, whose races were cancelled at the start, while the Miami winners and Olympic bronze medallists Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel are in 49th place. It is clear to the veterans what they have to do on Wednesday, the second and final day of qualifying: "We have to attack!" The Berliners, who are competing for the NRV Olympic Team, will have to work their way up to 25th place with strong performances if they want to survive the strict 49er cut and continue sailing in the gold fleet of the main round. Former 49er dominators Peter Burling and Blair Tuke did not have a good start in their Spanish comeback either. The New Zealand Olympic champions, America's Cup winners and Volvo Ocean Race participants started their first race in 17th place, followed it up with 23rd place and then recalled their former glory days with their first race win. The Kiwis, in 35th place, will also have to put the pressure on if they want to reach the gold fleet.
Phillip Kasüske from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club came tenth in the Finn. Max Kohlhoff from Kiel had to drop a few places and will start the main round in 21st place. The 470 sailors Frederike Loewe and Anna Markfort also made it into the gold fleet in tenth place. Sisters Luise and Helena Wanser from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein also finished eleventh. In the Laser Radial, Svanja Weger from the Potsdam Yacht Club was in twelfth place after four races and thus qualified for the gold fleet. In the Laser, world number three Philipp Buhl missed out on a top ten place after a good start on Tuesday with an early start. Nevertheless, the helmsman from the Alpsee-Immenstadt Sailing Club is still in the gold fleet in 17th place. The 29-year-old was briefly annoyed about the "unnecessary early start", but made up for it with fifth place in the following race. And his team-mates Nik Willim (25th) and Nico Naujock (51st) also sailed with Buhl into the gold fleet.
An overview of all results and the individual scores can be found at here.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
