Sailing World Championship: Sailing number 13 to a world championship coup

Some were jubilant about their bronze coup, others took the missed medal with the aplomb of Olympic bronze medallists: the German 49er sailors once again underlined their affiliation to the absolute world elite at the World Championships, even under difficult circumstances. The biggest coup was achieved by Tim Fischer from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and Fabian Graf from Seglerhaus am Wannsee. The sailors from national coach Max Groy's perspective squad surprised themselves and everyone else with their World Championship medal after a two-month injury break in the spring. "We would never have expected this," said helmsman and sports soldier Tim Fischer, who is only 23 years old. "Yes, we've struggled this year. Even now at the World Championships. And then we were able to deliver to the point."

The replay of the live broadcast of the final races of the 49er and 49erFX crews

Although the two overjoyed sailors from Kiel only finished ninth in the final medal race on Saturday, they had started the final from second place after the twelve races of the qualifying and main rounds. The young team's overall outstanding performance, which DSV Sports Director Nadine Stegenwalner described as "sensational", was enough to defend their podium place. For Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel, however, their medal hopes in the medal race were dashed. After a timing error at the start, the Berliners from the NRV Olympic Team were quickly able to regain a position in midfield. But when the hoped-for pressure on their side didn't quite last until the first turning mark, the Germans were overrun by the field. "We were maybe 20 metres short," said Heil, "after that there weren't many overtaking lanes. The race hurt because it was so bad. But if we had been offered fourth place before the World Championships, we would have taken it."

Following their success at the 2016 Olympic Games, the 29-year-old helmsman and his coxswain had recently spent two years focussing intensively on their studies and only got back into their second Olympic campaign this summer. Their performance seems all the more astonishing against this backdrop. If you add twelfth place at the World Championships for training partners Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme to their successes, then the skiff class is one of the best that German Olympic sailing currently has to offer. Erik Heil/Thomas Plößel and Justus Schmidt/Max Boehme have made the discipline strong over the past four years in close and unusually open co-operation and friendship. Now they want to include Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf in their "world's best training community".

Just a short time ago they were a member of the perspective squad and now the best German team at the World Championships: for Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf that was no reason to take off on Saturday. They are sailing on the same wave that has already carried Heil/Plößel and Schmidt/Boehme a long way and should carry them even further. Even though the Kiel team missed out on a place in the medal race at this World Championship due to a thoroughly botched first day, they weren't far off the mark in twelfth place. Real teamwork has made the leading 49er quartet a force in the skiff class. They will now continue as a sextet. Tim Fischer, whose team also recommended itself for the DSV Olympic squad with the bronze medal, said: "I think that together we can really push Germany forward!"

Two newcomers became 49er world champions in Aarhus: Sime Fantela had won gold in the 470 in Rio de Janeiro and then switched to the skiff with his brother Mihovil Fantela. It didn't take the Croats long to retrain, and they are already back on top. The silver medal went to Mathieu Frei and Noel Delpech from France, who beat Fischer/Graf to third place with their race win in the final. Their compatriots Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros also lent a friendly helping hand: They understandably, but also quite conspicuously, let their team's top team pass them on the way to the finish.

The fans suffered along with Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht. The Austrians had started the medal race of the 49erFX sailors as leaders with an 11-point lead over their rivals. However, a 180-degree wind shift caused the duo to capsize. "You couldn't have predicted the wind shift at all. I even expected it to come from the other side. But we are still very happy with the medal," said Tanja Frank. The new world champions Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz benefited from the mishap. The Dutch women secured gold in fourth place in the final, two points ahead of the Austrians. Britain's Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth won bronze.