Pre-Olympics: Test regatta off Marseille - National sailors rehearse for the Olympics
Tatjana Pokorny
· 09.07.2023
It's hot in Marseille! This applies to the temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius as well as to the expectant atmosphere in the future French Olympic harbour. 337 athletes with 252 boats and boards are ready for the Pre-Olympics a good year before the Olympics. The Olympic dress rehearsal begins on 9 July with the kiters, Ilca 7 and Ilca 6 as well as the 470 mixed crews. The other five disciplines will start the Pre-Olympics on Tuesday.
The German Sailing Team competes in nine out of ten Olympic sailing disciplines
The national sailing team is competing in nine out of ten Olympic sailing disciplines and wants to gain maximum experience for next year's Olympic summit at the Pre-Olympics. Only Germany's iQFoilers failed to qualify for the Pre-Olympics. The German Sailing Team has 13 participants: seven men and six women in six boats and on three boards.
With an average age of 26.6 years in the DSV squad for the Pre-Olympics, 32-year-old iQFoil windsurfing world champion Sebastian Kördel from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein is the oldest and also the most successful athlete in the current squad. The man from Radolfzell is one of the German Sailing Team's biggest medal hopefuls these weeks and also for the 2024 Olympics.
The atmosphere in the team is really good" (Paul Kohlhoff)
This also applies to the Nacra 17 sailors Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer, who will not be challenged in the future Olympic area until 11 July. The catamaran mixed crew is the only German crew at the test regatta with Olympic experience, having won bronze in the Enoshima area in Japan in 2021. "We feel at home here in Marseille. The atmosphere in the team is really good. We're ready to go," said Nacra 17 helmsman Paul Kohlhoff about the opening weekend.
Like 50 per cent of the starters in the ten Olympic sailing disciplines, he and his foresailor Alica Stuhlemmer will not be competing until Tuesday. Paul Kohlhoff describes the atmosphere in the Olympic harbour as inspiring: "It's a round harbour in which the classes are housed and arranged separately from each other. There is a lot of space and you can concentrate well on your sport."
You can simulate what it might look like next year at the Olympics" (Paul Kohlhoff)
Kohlhoff rates participation in the Olympic test regatta as "totally important for us". The 28-year-old from Kiel says: "That's why we take it very seriously. Also in international comparison. You can simulate what it might look like next year at the Olympics. We want to use this opportunity to make a statement."
His teammates from the national sailing team will also be aiming for this at the dress rehearsal, where the decisive medal races will take place on 14 July (Formula Kite Men and Women), 15 July (Ilca 6, Ilca 7, 470 Mixed) and 16 July (iQFoil Men and Women, 49er, 49er FX, Nacra 17).
In the spotlight at the start on 9 July: Ilca 6, Ilca 7, Formula Kite Men and Women, 470 Mixed
The German Sailing Team will start with Julia Büsselberg (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) in the Ilca 6, Nik Aaron Willim (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) in the Ilca 7, Flo Gruber and Leonie Meyer (both Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) in the Kiters and Malte and Anastasiya Winkel (Schweriner Yacht-Club/Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) in the 470 Mixed.
Of these crews, only Anastasiya Winkel brings Olympic experience to the competition alongside Kohlhoff/Stuhlemmer. She sailed to sixth place at the 2021 Olympic Games in Japan with helmswoman Luise Wanser. A double disqualification due to a harness waistcoat that was too heavy cost the German 470 crew a potential medal coup. Mixed crews will be sailing for 470 medals at the 2024 Olympics. Anastasiya Winkel has formed a crew with her husband and helmsman for this purpose. Luise Wanser is sailing with Bavarian cox Philipp Autenrieth.
The German Sailing Team went to a lot of trouble for us and created very nice conditions" (Nik Aaron Willim)
The single-handed dinghy sailors Julia Büsselberg and Nik Aaron Willim, who surprisingly beat world champion Philipp Buhl in the qualifiers, will be competing on a pre-Olympic stage for the first time. "I'm taking in a lot of new impressions here. The German Sailing Team has gone to a lot of trouble for us and created great conditions. The sailing courses here are very different, so we also have to expect very different conditions. That is pleasant. I feel comfortable with my boat and will try to get the best out of myself."
Formula kiter Flo Gruber came out on top against his team-mate Jannis Maus (Cuxkiters) in the qualification for the Olympic test regatta. Gruber has already been in Marseille for a week and, like many of his team-mates, had already trained in the Olympic area. "It's certainly not an easy spot. We've already had many training blocks and coaches' regattas here. It's a challenging area. You have high temperatures in summer. The wind is very tricky and often shifts. You can have a lot of different wind directions. The water is also very turbulent in the bay."
It's the kind of experience you love to accept" (Flo Gruber)
Flo Gruber continued before the first starting shots on 9 July: "Super strong winds are not forecast for the time being. Rather light to medium winds, which suit me quite well." On the value of the Pre-Olympics for his own Olympic ambitions, Gruber said: "We are spending even more time in the Olympic area, familiarising ourselves with Olympic procedures and how things might work at the Olympics. This gives us a better idea of what we need to prepare. Of course, you're more than happy to accept such an experience. This also applies to data that you can collect now and use for the Olympics. Then you know better what happens in which winds."
The German Sailing Team is staying together in one of the hotels near the Olympic harbour in Marseille, which will also be used as accommodation for the athletes at next year's Olympic Games. "That's super cool," says Flo Gruber and others. "You can have breakfast together with the other members of the German Sailing Team, eat together in the evening or even play a game of table football. It's a lot of fun and also provides a good distraction or insight into what the others are up to. That's worth its weight in gold. We have such a cool team around us!"
Good conditions for the national sailors
In an initial comparative assessment, Flo Gruber was not the only one to say: "The German Sailing Team is certainly one of the best organised teams here. Especially with the two containers. One is still in the training harbour, one is now in the Olympic harbour. The fact that we have super-equipped containers means we have all the options. Everything is very well organised. This allows us to concentrate on the sport, which is extremely important. I'm super motivated!" The kiters will mainly be working on the Marseille course close to the coast because they need to be able to change kites in between.
Flo Gruber describes the Marseille course as "tricky". "In light, thermal winds or when the wind is onshore, the pressure doesn't quite reach the shore. A very slight jam can then develop. This is a problem for us kiters because we have to start from the beach, as one or two races may have to be cancelled or postponed. I hope that we'll just have a bit of luck with it during the regatta." The new Olympic harbour is "gigantic", says Gruber, "a cool location". There are still some construction sites, but you can expect a perfect harbour.
You realise that the French are a great sailing nation" (Flo Gruber)
Flo Gruber is positive about the atmosphere in France on course for the Olympics: "You can tell that they are a great sailing nation and are really behind it. Of course, it would be nice if everything works out and I can compete here again next year. I will give it my all."
Gruber shares this attitude with all his team mates on site, but also with those top German sailors and board artists who were unable to qualify for the test regatta, but who still have a good chance of overtaking their team mates now active in Marseille in the three-part national elimination for the 2024 Olympic Games next year.
These top German teams are not among the...
The most prominent German players who were unable to qualify for the Pre-Olympics, but still have their sights firmly set on the 2024 Olympics, include two-time Olympian and Laser World Champion Philipp Buhl (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), the 470 Mixed World Champions Luise Wanser/Philipp Autenrieth (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Bayerischer Yacht-Club), the 470 Mixed Vice European Champions and Kiel Week winners Simon Diesch/Anna Markfort (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee).
