This week, the German Sailing Team is getting a taste of what it will be like at the 2024 Olympic Games. The national team is represented in nine out of ten disciplines at the Olympic test regatta. After generational changes, upheavals and the introduction of five new Olympic sailing disciplines - and therefore 50 per cent of the entire programme - it is the experienced crews that shine at the Pre-Olympics.
German 470 mixed strength: Team Winkel fights for a medal on Saturday
It is Malte and Anastasiya Winkel (Schweriner Yacht-Club/Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) who will be competing for a medal in the new Olympic 470 Mixed on Saturday. The sailing and married couple, who beat training mates and world champions Luise Wanser/Philipp Autenrieth (NRV/Bayerischer Yacht-Club) and European runners-up and Kieler Woche winners Simon Diesch/Anna Markfort (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) in the national qualifiers for the Pre-Olympics off Marseille, are in third place after ten races. Anything from gold to a wooden medal is still possible in the double medal race.
Anastasiya Winkel brings Olympic experience to the team with her helmsman and husband. She sailed to sixth place in Enoshima 2021 with Luise Wanser. The shooting star duo could even have won an Olympic medal if it hadn't been for the overly harsh double disqualification due to a harness waistcoat that was too heavy. In the newly formed mixed format, the German training group is now regarded as the strongest in the world. Malte and Anastasiya have already lived up to this reputation as the current German representatives in the Olympic area this week with three daily victories.
We were able to gather valuable input for our call book next year." Malte Winkel
Malte Winkel gives an initial summary: "We actually learnt a lot more about the area that we wouldn't have otherwise. Neither last year nor this year at the training sessions. Or at least very rarely. We were able to gather valuable input for our call book next year. We are of course happy with where we are now in the overall standings. The goal before the medal race was definitely to be in a position to win a medal. It's going to be super close. You can see just how incredibly good the field is here, especially with the small points gaps."
Because Olympic fields are much smaller than normal regatta fleets, the Winkels were also happy to take on this experience, as the helmsman explains: "It's something completely different to race with 17 boats. I have to say, it was a really good experience for us to race in such a small fleet. And then in such a competitive field. If you qualify next year, then it helped us a lot to understand what to expect. I think that was really worth a lot."
The competition doesn't forgive mistakes." Malte Winkel
The 470 mixed sailors are "generally satisfied" with their own performance up to the final. Malte Winkel says: "We were able to further optimise some processes in the team. Unfortunately, there were also two days on which we weren't able to implement the basics that we actually have in such medium conditions, which are sometimes shifty and suit us well. In the end, this was immediately reflected in the results. The competition doesn't forgive mistakes."
The day before the medal final, the Winkels recharge their batteries for the showdown. Malte Winkel explains: "We enjoy the day off, watch how the others sail, support the team. And then on Saturday we'll do everything we can to bring home the first medal for Germany. We're really keen to attack again."
Kohlhoff/Stuhlemmer within striking distance of the medals
The Nacra 17 bronze medallists from the Olympic Games in Japan are also sailing in an attacking mood in the Bay of Marseille: Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer have a score to settle, especially with themselves, after a few light wind setbacks this season. The pair from Kiel took the lead with two wins on day one of the Olympic test regatta, but also suffered a few weaker results during the rest of the Olympic dress rehearsal.
In fourth place after nine of twelve races up to the medal race, the crew from the Kieler Yacht-Club were within striking distance of the medals before the final weekend. The Olympic bronze medallists still have three races left to improve their position going into the final. The young Italians Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei were in the lead in the Nacra 17 mixed crews on Friday evening.
Leonie Meyer and Flo Gruber in the top ten in eighth place
While the decisions in the single-handed dinghies Ilca 6 and Ilca 7 and in the 470 Mixed will be made on Saturday and the pre-Olympic test medals in the iQFoil windsurfers, skiffs and Nacra 17 will be awarded on Sunday, the kiters already finished their Olympic test race on Friday. Florian Gruber and Leonie Meyer (both from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) both came eighth. For both it was only in the semifinals that they finished. Both showed good performances.
Flo Gruber finished the competition "with mixed feelings" and in the knowledge that he "still has a few adjustments to make". Above all, it's about more speed in overpowered mode. Part of it has to do with the fact that he still lacks a few kilos of body weight, on the other hand, according to Gruber, the winning top favourite Axel Mazella doesn't have more kilos on his board either, but rides a different foil. Flo Gruber will be carrying out intensive tests in this area in the near future. Unlike the Ilca athletes, for example, the kiters bring their own equipment to the Olympic Games.
The Olympic area: appreciated by sailors, only partially suitable for kiters
After an intensive week, both Flo Gruber and Leonie Meyer describe the upcoming Olympic area as extremely challenging for kiters. On the one hand, the wind often doesn't reach the shore in the bay of Marseille, which regularly makes it difficult or even impossible to start from the beach and ensures long waiting times.
On the other hand, the thermal winds in the Bay of Marseille vary so much in strength that the female kitesurfers in particular can barely make it ashore under their own steam on some days when the wind picks up in overpowered mode. "Unlike sailors, we can't just trim our kites," says Leonie Meyer, explaining the problem of deciding on one of several kites before the start, which sailors don't have.
The doctor and mum was unlucky in her semi-final runs on the final day of the kiteboarding competition. After winning the first heat, she was taken off her board by her New Zealand opponent in the second heat - leading and travelling very fast - when the kites got caught. This caused Leonie Meyer's line to break. Although the New Zealander was disqualified, Leonie Meyer did not receive any compensation for her involuntary exit. "There is compensation in the fleet races beforehand, but not in the finals," says Leonie Meyer, explaining a weakness in the regulations.
I really like the German team." Leonie Meyer
Leonie's start in the third round was not perfect. However, she then battled her way back to China's Jingyue Chen in style. She was only two metres short of the windward mark. But that can mean worlds in kitesurfing. It then became too difficult to catch up with her opponent.
Nevertheless, Leonie Meyer is positive about the outcome. Currently travelling without her own coach, she received great support in Marseille from Jan-Hauke Erichsen, Performance Manager Marcus Lynch and other team members. "Jan-Hauke gave me great support and I also learnt an incredible amount from Marcus Lynch. I really like the German team," said Leonie Meyer, who is working with the federation to find a new coaching solution.
The single-handed dinghy sailors have also completed their preliminary and main rounds of the Pre-Olympics. Nik Aaron Willim (NRV) missed out on the medal race in the Ilca 7 men's race in eighteenth place. Burdened by an early start in the second race, Willim was unable to build on his good spring form in this test. He managed two top ten finishes in ten races. On the evening before the medal final, Great Britain's Michael Beckett was in the lead ahead of Australian Olympic champion Matt Wearn.
Marit Bouwmeester is already the winner before the final
In the Ilca 6 women's race, Julia Büsselberg from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club managed to win race nine, but she even had to compensate for two early starts and finished the Olympic test regatta in 15th place. The "Flying Dutchwoman" Marit Bouwmeester had an unassailable lead before the final. The 2016 Olympic champion is a young mother, but was able to return to her former form impressively quickly. With just 38 points to her name, the reigning Danish Olympic champion Anne-Marie Rindom (59 points) will no longer be able to catch Marit Bouwmeester in the medal race on Saturday.
